Secrets Burnt at Both Ends
by orangezauber
Summary: The Marauders are curious as to why Remus gets letters from a mysterious girl by the name of Becky. Remus is tired of his friends trying to figure out who Becky really is. And Becky wants to know why Remus won't introduce her to his school friends. The summer before 7th year, Remus must stop this friends from meeting Becky and revealing his biggest moonlit secret.
1. Chapter 1: Summer Begins

**Author's note: **Hello, everyone! Thanks for choosing to read 'Secrets Burnt at Both Ends'. This story is mostly about Remus and the secrets he keeps from this best friends the Mauraders and his childhood best friend Becky. The first half of most of the chapters begin with a flashback of Remus' past with his friends. Hope you enjoy my take on JKR's wizarding world (which I am merely borrowing for the purpose of this story). Sadly, she is the literary genius, not I.

Chapter 1: Partings of the Past and Current

************************************Remus Lupin, Age 10************************************

"Hey that's not fair," a tiny girl yells. Her ponytail flies behind her as she runs as fast as her 10 year old legs can carry her to the edge of the dock. She stops abruptly taking care not to smash into the person standing in front of her. "You got a head start," she huffed.

"I did not. You are just sore because I am faster than you," the boy on the dock stated. He looked abnormally old for a boy of 11 as if he had been through more than his fair share of misfortune. Pale scares framed his already pasty complexion and his light brown hair unsuccessfully tried to hide these marks.

"You are so not faster than me, Remus John Lupin," the girl countered.

The boy named Remus shuttered at the use of his full name. "Don't use my full name, Rebecca Elsie James-Fourneir."

"Reeemus," Rebecca whined, a tint of pink dusting her cheeks.

"What? I was just returning the favor," Remus replied.

"Fine then, return this," with that Rebecca pushed Remus hard in the chest.

Remus stumbled back-wards, loosing his balance as he tumbled off the edge of the dock. Droplets of water showered Rebecca as she laughed at complete face of shock from her friend. Feeling the drops of lake water on her skin made her replay the scene in her head once more. More laughter erupted from her tiny body.

"Becky, you are so dead," Remus threatened as he resurfaced and began treading water.

"Why don't you say that to my face, Remus John…," Becky taunted.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence."

"…Lupin."

"That's it. You're dead," Remus yelled as he quickly pulled himself out of the water.

Becky screamed with laugher once again. She raced towards the house just on the other side of the hill. Throwing back the door, she allowed herself a quick glance behind her to find Remus in hot pursuit. Running up the stairs, Becky said a hastened hello to Mrs. Lupin who was descending the stairs with an armful of laundry. Becky ran down the hall and into the open room at the end of the hall where she promptly sat on the edge of the sheet striped bed. Remus stomped in shortly after, still dripping wet and glaring.

"How dare you," Remus seethed. "Of all the low, deceitful things you could have done you just had to push me in and run off."

"Maybe," Becky said innocently.

"If that's your game, then come here." Remus lunged at Becky, wrapping his wet arms around her frame. He made sure to rub his wet hair on her cheeks and arms and allowed his clothes to transfer as much moisture onto hers as possible.

"Alright, I give. I give!" Becky shrieked.

Satisfied with Becky's surrender, Remus sat down next to the now damp girl.

"Serves you right," Remus gloated at his triumph.

"Yeah, yeah," Becky pouted.

Remus gave a shiver. His cold, damp clothes finally settling in sent goose bumps erupting all over his body.

"You should go change out of those clothes, Rem," Becky said.

"Yeah, I suppose you are right," Remus replied with another shiver. "Be right back."

Becky sat there waiting for Remus for what could not have been more than a minute or two.

"How did you get dry so fast," Becky asked at Remus' prompt return.

"Er, magic?"

"Of course, magic. How silly of me to have forgotten that you and your family have these ultra magical powers that can dry anything at the drop of a hat," Becky giggled.

Remus had never told Becky of one of his family's secrets. This secret dealt with the simple fact that his family really was magic. The Lupin's came from a long line of witches and wizards, but of course Remus could never share this information with Becky. He didn't want to scare off his best and only friend. He had had a hard time keeping his other friends. His wizarding friend, especially after the incident. Remus didn't want Becky to know about the incident that killed his father. He didn't want Becky to know that his father had died at the hands of a werewolf, a mythical creature non-magic folks only read about in fairytales. He didn't want Becky to know that he, Remus Lupin, himself was bitten by the same werewolf that killed his father and now had to undergo painful transformations once a month. No, Remus would never tell Becky the horrible truth behind his scared face. Right now he was just glad that they were friends and she didn't care that he had a disfigured visage. She only cared about the person Remus wanted to be. The kid trapped in the werewolf's body.

"Yeah, magic," Remus joined in Becky's giggles. "How silly."

"You come up with the lamest excuses sometimes," Becky said, "but that is why I like you. You are the best friend a girl could have."

"You're my best friend too, Bec."

"Are you sure you have to leave for that boarding school tomorrow," Becky suddenly sobered up and asked.

Bowing his head slightly, Remus said, "I wish I didn't have to." And that was true. Remus didn't want to attend Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He would much rather stay with Becky, with whom he knew would accept him as a friend.

"It just doesn't seem fair that you have to start school so early," Becky said. "I don't start for another year. However, my parents are thinking of sending me to a boarding school next year."

"What," Remus nearly choked. "Where?"

"France," Becky replied with her best French accent. "They said that no one teaches like the French. They are the very, very best."

The door bell rang. Remus and Becky could hear the front door open and two female voices speaking. Then Remus' mother called up the stairs, "Rebecca! Your mother is here to pick you up!"

"Well, I guess I better go," Becky said with a down trodden expression. "You will write me, won't you, Rem."

"Of course," was all Remus could say. He couldn't believe that his summer with Becky was over already. The two friends slowly made their way downstairs.

"Ready to go, sweetheart," Becky's mother asked as the two children appeared in the entrance hall.

"I guess," Becky said sadly.

Mrs. Lupin bent down and ran her hand through Becky's hair. "Now I know the two of you had lots of fun over the summer, but Remus will be back for Christmas. And then, before you know it, it will be summer again and the two of you play together until you are sick of each other."

Becky gave a small smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Lupin, for everything."

"Not a problem, dear. You are always welcome," Mrs. Lupin said straightening up.

"Come on, Becca. I am sure Jane and Remus have a lot to do before tomorrow. We don't want to keep them," Becky's mother said. "Say goodbye to Remus and we will be on our way."

"Goodbye, Rem," Becky said with tears forming in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Remus and whispered, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Becky," Remus replied.

Becky released Remus and turned away. Her mother thanked Mrs. Lupin again for allowing her daughter to stay at their house and then opened the front door and she and Becky left. Taking one last look behind her, Becky saw the young Remus waving sadly out the front window as his best friend turned the corner.

*****************************6 years later******************************************

Remus woke to someone shaking him awake. It took him a couple of seconds to realize where he was. He was on the Hogwarts express going home after his sixth year at Hogwarts. Remus recognized his friend's perfect crop of ebony hair. Remus chuckled slightly at the though of how vain his friend was about his hair.

"Come on, Moony, wake up and stop giggling. Train stopped, lets go," Sirius Black said as he continued shaking Remus.

"I am not giggling," Remus said batting his friend's hands away from him. "Geeze, Padfoot, I think you dislocated my shoulders."

"Nah, I would never do that to you, Moons," Sirius said giving Remus a hard slap on the back. "Now come on. The guys are already waiting for us on the platform."

"Fine. Just let me grab my stuff first," Remus said as he found his bag and his book that must have fallen on the floor when he fell asleep.

He exited the train and found his other two friends talking to Sirius. James Potter was animatedly talking with his hands, probably about his latest encounter with the love of his life and Peter Pettigrew was hanging intently on James' every word. Laughing in all the right places, earning himself triumphant grins from James. Sirius just had his arms crossed and was shaking his head at his best friend's story. James stopped in midsentence when he saw Remus climb off of the train.

"Moony! You should have seen it! You should have seen how badly she wanted me," James exclaimed with glee.

"Who wants you, Prongs," Remus asked. Of course Remus knew James was talking about none other than Lily Evans. She was a fiery red-head with a temper to match. She had the brains and determination of a highly skilled Healer.

"Lily, of course," James yelled.

Remus saw the red-head in question, on the opposite end of the platform, tense up at the sound of her name and quickly make her way out though the platform gate.

"Alright, enough about Evans," Sirius said before James could start his story over. "We have everything all planned out for the summer. Wormtail is coming home with Prongs and me. And, Moony, you are coming in a few days. Are you sure you can't just come now? I mean we have been planning our last summer together since last year."

"Sorry, guys. I can't. I have to go home for a few days and spend some time with my mum. You know how she gets," Remus shrugged. That wasn't the real reason why Remus didn't go to James house first thing. He was looking forward to seeing someone else. The summer was their time together and Remus wouldn't miss it.

"Fine. Moony, be a party pooper. Anyway, the three of us will just hang around until you can slip away," James said. "Just be sure you are at my house by the full moon. My parents have the back yard charmed and ready for your 'furry little problem'".

"Thanks, James," Remus said as the clock struck 6pm. Remus didn't realize that it was that time already. He was already fifteen minutes late. "Merlin, I have to go you guys. I'll see you three in a couple of weeks." With that he rushed off leaving his three friends behind.

"Where do you suppose he rushes off to every time," Peter asked out loud.

"Good question, Pete. Come to think of it, I don't think I have heard Remus mention it, ever. He just bids us a quick farewell and he's off," Sirius said.

A mischievous smile spread over James' face. "I don't suppose it will hurt following him just this once. If he sees us, then we will say a quick hello to Mrs. Lupin, tell her how excited we are for the summer, and then leave. No harm done, right?"

"Right," Sirius and Peter agreed.

The three of them left the platform the same way Remus did, through the gate back to Kings Cross. When they crossed over the threshold, they looked for Remus. Peter spotted him near the exit as if he was looking for something or someone. James, Sirius and Peter, then heard someone yell Remus' name. The three of them looked in the direction of the caller. They saw Remus rush over to a girl they didn't recognize and embrace her tightly and spin her around. The three boys looked at each other in confusion and shock.

"Who's the skirt," James wondered out loud.

"That is definitely not Mrs. Lupin," Peter said.

"Not unless, Mrs. Lupin got a lot younger," Sirius said.

"His sister, maybe," Peter suggested.

"I don't think so," Sirius shook his head. "As far as I know Remus is an only child."

"I think this needs further investigation," James said coming out of his initial shock. "Our shy, bookworm, has a secret girl and we need to find out why he kept her from us."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the station, Remus continued to spin around.

"I missed you so much," Remus said. "I can't believe it has been nine months since I saw you last."

Becky laughed. "Remus, stop! You're making me dizzy."

Remus stopped spinning and carefully put Becky back on her own two feet.

"Your parents are never allowed to take you on a family vacation again," Remus said.

"You could have come with us," Becky replied. "Mum invited you to come, but someone just had to refuse."

"I know, but you know how it is with family emergencies," Remus responded. The truth was Remus would have said yes to spending all of Christmas break with Becky, but the full moon kept him. Even after being friends since they were born, Remus still hadn't found the courage to tell Becky that he was a werewolf. He couldn't stand the thought of losing her after all this time.

"Oh, that's right," Becky remembered what Remus had told her before winter break. "How is your aunt doing, by the way?"

"Er, she passed a couple of weeks ago," Remus said. He hated lying to Becky like this.

Becky gasped, "Remus, I am so sorry."

Remus shrugged, "I didn't really know her that well."

"Well, not to worry, Rem," Becky said gently. "You will always have me."

"That I do," Remus responded by giving Becky a kiss on her temple and sliding his arm around her shoulders. "So where are we off to? I'm starved."

"When are you not," Becky laughed.

From the shadows, three figures watched intently as Remus and Becky walked out of Kings Cross.

"Was that weird or what? I didn't know he had a sick aunt," James said stepping out from behind the pillar as the car drove out of sight.

"I don't think he did, mate," Sirius said. "I think it was just a cover."

"You guys don't suppose she was the reason why Moony was so depressed over Christmas, do you," Peter questioned.

"That's right, Pete. He was with us all break long," Sirius smirked. "That means he just lied to the bird."

James came up behind both Sirius and Peter and draped an arm of each of his friends. "Well, my fellow Marauders, I see this as an intriguing turn of events. We know that Moony still has secrets and we should find out what they are."

"I'm game," Sirius nodded.

"Me too," Peter followed suit like usual.

"Great, we have a long night of planning to do," James said steering this two friends back to the wizarding world.


	2. Chapter 2: Spying and Pre-Friendships

**Author's Note**: Hello everyone! I thought I would tell the world I am not JKR. She is the creator of the universe in which I borrow. For those of you who have been waiting for this chapter, I'm sorry for the delay. I had something written, but at the last minute decided I wanted to move it to a later chapter hence the long wait. Here is chapter two!

***********************Second Year******************************

"Don't even try, mate," James said as he walked into the boy's dormitory one night during second year. "He won't help you. He never does."

"But I don't have time to research and write it tonight," Sirius said as he appeared through the doorway. "I have a detention with Slughorn tonight for the flubberworm incident last week."

"You don't have to tell me. I hardly have enough time to do either of those things and I don't have a detention tonight. I would have done it last night if _someone,_" James turned to Remus, who was sitting on his bed doing homework, "hadn't been tossing, turning, and muttering in his sleep last night I would have been able to get some work done. Who is Becky anyway, Remus?"

Remus tried to ignore James, but it was proving harder than he expected. It was like this every time one of them had a detention. They would put their homework off to the last minute and then ask Remus for help. They didn't really need help because they were brilliant enough to pass all of their classes without much study preparation. No, what they wanted was to copy Remus' homework to prove they don't need to study to pass.

"Come on, Lupin. Either help me with my essay or tell us about who you were dreaming about last night," Sirius quipped as he clapped his hands together leaning his head against them with a mocking dramatic sigh. "Sounds like this girl and you are close. Do you help her with her homework?"

"I don't have to help you, Sirius," Remus replied coolly trying to keep his temper under control. "And it is none of your business who or what I dream about."

"It's the least you can do for us," James began. "You did keep us up last night with—"

"Don't blame me for your procrastination," Remus snapped not allowing his dorm mate finish his sentence. Remus didn't care if he kept anyone up. He felt as though it was none of their business to intrude into his dreams. In addition, he was tired of people asking him for his homework just because they were too lazy to do their own work in a timely manner. "Both of you have had plenty of time to finish your essays. Just because I let you copy my essay once doesn't mean I have to do it again."

"Well forgive us for wanting to spend some quality time with one of our dorm mates. How else are we going to become friends if we don't spend time together," Sirius said with fake hurt in his voice.

Remus snorted. "Quality time? I don't think it counts when we are both in the same room but you are copying my work while I am reading a book."

"Yup, sounds perfect," Sirius exclaimed as he grabbed the bed post swinging around on to Remus bed. Both boys having polar opposite expressions spread across their faces; Sirius having a playful grin and Remus, showing an angry glare. James merely watched with caution from cross the room. It was best never to cross either one of them even on their best days.

"The answer is still no, Sirius," Remus replied, pushing his roommate off of the bed.

"But Remus," Sirius whined from the floor allowing his lip to jet out as his eyes widen to make the perfect puppy dog face.

"You think that is actually going to work on me," Remus questioned rising from his bed and making his way over to his desk where his book bag sat. Dodging the piles of clothing, both dirty and clean, Remus made it to his desk.

Seeing Remus rummaging through the bag, Sirius let out an exclamation of excitement. He shot up from the floor like a fire had been lit under him; which wouldn't be too farfetched with James Potter as a close friend.

"Yes! You see, James. I told you Remus was a decent enough guy to let me borrow his essay."

Remus chuckled without humour. "And what makes you think that I would be getting my essay for you." Remus returned to his bed with a bit of parchment and his quill. Settling into the space he previously occupied, Remus began to write.

"I take it back, James. I take it all back," Sirius playfully growled while kicking a pile of clean shirts. "Remus is a complete slob and I didn't want to use his essay anyway."

"That's not going to help your case, mate," James muttered stepping out of the way of the flying clothing.

Sirius whined, "But there is no way I am going to finish my essay in time."

"You can borrow mine, Sirius," Peter piped up from the opposite side of the room.

"See! See how Peter is a great friend, unlike some people I know," Sirius replied, staring pointedly at Remus. He slowly walked over to Remus who was not paying attention.

James watched Remus carefully plan out what he was about to write. He wondered what went on in his roommate's head when he wrote. James knew next to nothing about the boy who slept a couple of beds away from him.

James broke out of his ravine when he heard, "Sirius get away from my bag".

"_Dear Becky_," Sirius read aloud. "_'You wouldn't believe the week I've had'_. So this girl is real."

"Give it back, Sirius," Remus seethed, reaching out for his letter now in Sirius' hands.

"Essay first, then the letter," Sirius bounced away.

"Definitely not helping matters," James shook his head with a hidden smile.

"You don't know when to quit do you. I told you "no" and you took it a step too far. If my personal matters mean that much to you then here..." Remus yelled as he charged Sirius.

Sirius screamed as he dodged the livid roommate stumbling to keep balance. As Sirius bounded over his bed, Remus charged again, leaping over the divan with seemingly little energy exerted.

"Great Merlin," Sirius yelled as Remus caught his foot in midair.

James and Peter pinned themselves to walls as to keep away from debacle before them. Blurs of black and golden brown hair swept the floor followed by swirls of fabric. Suddenly a rip of paper sounded like a thunder-clap breaking through a hushed forest.

No one moved. Every single face in unspoken shock.

Sirius broke the silence first still holding a half of a letter in his hand. "Remus, I am so sorry. I—"

"Don't," Remus let out a feral growl. He stormed over to his bed and opened up a drawer in his bed side table. He pulled out a handful of letters. "Read them. Start rumours. I don't care."

Remus threw the letters to the ground as he stomped out of the dorm. He had to leave before his did something he would regret. There was only one place in Hogwarts that always seemed to calm him down; a place that allowed him to think without being disturbed.

The library was the only place that provided Remus with sanctuary. He knew his dorm mates wouldn't follow him into the depths of the library. Once among the collections of subjects long forgotten, Remus yanked a random book from the shelves.

The book brought him no comfort. Nothing could bring him comfort when he got worked up. His only relief from the insanity that was Hogwarts was in France amongst her own friends.

It hurt not having Becky around. She was the only one who seemed to understand Remus. He just needed her presence. She didn't have to say anything for him to feel calm. Here he felt alone with only the forgotten names lining the walls as comfort.

************************End of 6th Year, Beginning of Summer***************************

"I can't help it! I need to know," Sirius exclaimed throwing himself on his bed at the Potter mansion. "Who was the girl he was with at the station? Moony has never been known to talk to a girl, let alone touch one."

"That's a bit dramatic, mate," James said leaning against the mahogany bed post of Sirius' midnight blue covered bed. "We can't exactly just march over to Remus' house and demand he tell us who the girl is. You know how he is when we demand things of him. Think back to our first and second years at school. He hated it when we demanded he give us his homework so we could copy."

"And yet we still do it," Sirius smiled.

"You," James pointed. "You...still ask Remus for his homework. I learned my lesson after he threw those letters at us in second year."

"I can't believe you wouldn't let me read those," Sirius said as he propped himself up on his elbows. "I am sure there would have been some juicy gossip from where ever that Becky girl is from."

"Great, Merlin. Sirius that's it," James exclaimed causing Sirius to startle. "The girl from the station must have been that mystery girl Becky."

"Give a man some warning before you go yelling."

"If a see a man, I'll warn him."

Sirius grabbed a pillow and chucked it at his best friend's head. James dodged it easily with his years of Quiddich. The pillow soared pass James, hitting the wall with a dull thud before lifeless sliding down into a mound on the floor.

"Damn, your reflexes."

"You haven't hit me in years, Padfoot. What makes you think today would be any different. Now stop messing around, we have to come up with a plan to find out if that is indeed the famous Becky."

"So if I were Moony, where would I go with a girl," Sirius asked. He stood, shook his shoulders, and took a stance he though his school friend would take. Sirius grabbed a book off of the night stand, hunched forward a bit.

James shook his head. "It's not quite right, mate. I can still see your face."

"Ah, right. 'Shut up, James. I am trying to study.'"

"That impression is uncanny. Now, Moony, where are you?"

"I'm in a library, I'm in a bookstore, I'm staying inside because the sun give terrible glare on my books making them difficult to read."

"Alright, I take back what I said before. You make a terrible Remus. C'mon we need to figure out a plan before make our move. We are the Mauraders for Merlin's sake! We are the best at causing mischief and mayhem without getting caught! Finding one of our best mates should be a cake walk compared to that."

Sirius watched as James began pacing the room, something James always did when he was thinking. Every few seconds James would stop pacing look excited before shaking his head vigorously and continuing to pace. Sirius was used to James' pacing. So he laid back on the bed and waited for his friend to voice his thoughts. It was best to let James think things out for himself rather than interrupting him.

"She has to know he is a wizard," James murmured.

"We already established that years ago," Sirius answered with closed eyes. "We just don't know where he would take her and I hardly think they would go straight to his house. I mean, I would take a bird out to eat or something. I would never take her home and as much as I love Mr. and Mrs. P, I wouldn't want to bring a girl here after I hadn't seen her in ages."

"Padfoot, you're a genius," James exclaimed. "Don't look so shocked someone would say that to you. You have good ideas when the moment calls for it."

"So what did I say, that warranted your proclamation of my brilliance," Sirius asked recovering from his initial shock.

"He must have taken her out to eat and where serves the best butterbeer this side of London? Why the 'Leaky Cauldron,' of course!"

Sirius sighed. "Not my first choice for a date place, but this is Moony we're talking about. I'll get the keys. We are taking my motor bike."

"No way in hell am I riding in that side-car of yours. You need to practice driving before you take that monstrosity out of the shed. We're walking." James walked out of the room as Sirius began to complain about no one trusting his mechanic abilities. Without waiting, James left the house with a quick call out to his mum as to where he was going.

It was a few blocks before Sirius finally caught up to the dark haired wizard strolling casually down the street humming a tune with his hands in his pockets.

"Way to leave me behind. You know how much I live to play spy."

The humming was brought to a standstill. "You live to get caught. You're a terrible spy."

"I am only as terrible as the person who leads," Sirius replied with a pointed look at his best mate.

"You're lucky people think you're pretty," James commented ignoring his friend. "Otherwise, you might actually get kicked out of school."

The two continued to banter as they walked the rest of the way into the middle of London. As they walked down the last block, the sign, for the Leaky Cauldron, began to magically appear in front of their eyes as if an invisible hand was painting the sign right then and there. Muggles walked past the without so much as a glance at the sign for the wizarding hang out; their eyes skipping the Leaky Cauldron all together.

James and Sirius leaned casually against the wall waiting for the pedestrians to go about their business. When no one was in sight, the two teenagers quickly slipped into hidden door. Immediately they were hit with the loud rumble of pots and pans clanking together, people talking and laughing, and the scraping of utensils against ceramic tableware.

The atmosphere was dark yet welcoming for any wizard or witch wishing for a place to get away from the normal hassles of life. The Leaky Cauldron was one of the best places to meet characters from all walks of life. James and Sirius searched the sea of heads looking for one that might be familiar.

"There," Sirius whispered. He pointed over to a booth along the middle of the wall to the right of the main entrance.

In the booth sat, the familiar and distracted Remus Lupin. Across from Remus sat the girl from the train station; or what the boys thought was the same girl from the station. She had the same colour and length of hair. However, the way her hair veiled her face kept the facial profile completely concealed.

Sirius was about to ask if they should move closer, when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. Nearly knocking James off his feet, Sirius spun to see to whom the mysterious hand belonged.

Tom, the bar keeper, smiled, "Sorry, Mr. Black. Didn't mean to give you a fright. I was just wondering if you needed any assistance or if I should be worried for my business."

"We are here for completely innocent means, Tom," James replied.

"Doesn't seem that innocent when you are sneaking around in dark corners," Tom said with a quirked eyebrow.

"We were just trying to figure out who the girl our friend Remus is with," Sirius blurted.

"Terrible spy," James murmured earning himself a jab to the ribs.

With a curious tilt of his head of salt and pepper coloured hair, Tom asked, "You two don't know who she is? Well, if Mr. Lupin has not told you then I most certainly do not have the right to do so."

"You know," both boys gasped.

"Of course," came the reply. "They come here every year and fight over who gets to pay the bill. I don't care who does as long as I get paid. Now if you two gentlemen don't mind..."

Tom walked over to Remus' table and said something James and Sirius could not hear due to the sound level inside the building. Remus nodded and looked over towards the bar near to where his two friends were hiding. Sirius and James ducked out of sight, flattening their stomachs to the floor.

"Let's go before we get caught," Sirius said. With that, the two began crawl across the floor on their stomachs with their elbows moving them forward.

Suddenly a pair of scuffed brown shoes stopped in front of them. The boys followed the trouser legs up to a well used cloak. At the head of the cloak was the face of the very friend they were spying on. Remus Lupin.


	3. Chapter 3: Coins

Author's Note: Hello again everyone! I thought I would tell the world I am not JKR. She is the creator of the universe in which I borrow. Remus and Becky dominate this chapter. As usual, the first part of the chapter begins with a past memory of Remus'. Now for chapter three!

*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*

The clouds scattered the sky. The ground was soaked with the recently stopped rain. Two children, a boy of 12 and girl of 11, sat on the ground without regard to the dampness of the grass beneath them. Three sets of coins, with pearls of water on the top faces, were spread out in front of the pair.

A small hand reached out taking one of the silver made sickles. The hand held it up to the face of the small feminine face attached to the arm. "There are 17 of these in one of those gold looking ones."

"Seventeen in a Galleon, yes," the small boy replied with a tired smile. He had spent his first hour of freedom from his bed rest explaining the intricate details of wizarding money to the neighbour girl, who happened to be his best friend. "And there are 29 Knuts in a Sickle."

"Fantastic." Which came out 'fan-tas-teek'.

"You're getting better with that accent of yours."

"Huh?" Becky looked up from the muddy bronze coin now in her hand. "Er, mum took me to France for a few months. She is convinced I will going to school there next year. So I spend a while with my grandmum and grandda. I guess I picked up a little bit of an accent while I was there."

Remus looked down at the remaining coin on the ground. He poked one of the droplets of water. The water weakly adhered to his fingertip. As he pulled up, the drop stretched out of shape before the bond broke and the cohesion broke sending the water sliding off the coin. Remus often played objects that used fine motor attention because it helped him feel humane. When in his most monsterous form, fine motor skills were nearly non-existent. While in wolf form, much of the muscles Remus used were his large muscles such as his legs for running or his jaw for snapping.

Remus nearly shuttered. He hated the wolf. The wolf kept him from being a normal child. The wolf was the reason why Remus was on bed rest for nearly a week. The transformation took a lot out of him. Because the change took so much energy and time out of his life, Remus ended up missing many activities he should have enjoyed, such as time with Becky during the summer.

"Rem, are you listening to me? Hellooooooooooooo," Becky said, waving her hands in front of the boy in front of her trying to get his attention.

"No, sorry," Remus replied snapping out of his ravine.

Becky stared at her friend. He lost concentration a lot, but she thought it was kind of funny how he would often just play with something using his fingertips or merely flex his fingers as if he wasn't used to such an action. "I asked about the things you were able to buy with this money."

"Oh, er, a caludron, school books, a uniform and robes, potion supplies, and a wand."

"A wand! You must show it to me! I can't believe you have a wand."

"My mum has it. She didn't want me to break it during my transfo...er...transfer from school to home." Remus almost slipped about his monthly transformations.

Luckily, Becky did not seem to catch the slip.

"Of course. You do tend to break things. Remember your mum's best flower vase, the one you thought looked like a fat gnome."

Remus remembered the vase with a laugh and he did indeed break it "on accident" a couple of years ago when he and Becky were playing field hockey in the back yard. The vase was supposed to be one of the goals.

"C'mon, let's go see your books. I would love to see what a fancy wizard, who likes to break things, learns in his fancy wizard school," Becky said as she held out the gold, silver, and bronze coins for Remus to take back.

"No you take the coins. I am sure you are going to need them for a later time."

Becky giggled. "Yes, of course. For all of those fancy books I am going to buy."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**Remus' summer after 6****th**** year***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How was school?"

"You know, full of learning things."

Becky laughed. "Really, Remus? What you mean to tell me is that you had absolutely no fun. You just learned things the entire year."

"Yeah, I learned that we should never go so long without seeing each other."

"I would have to agree with that, but come on, Rem, Hogwarts sounds so much more exciting than other schools I shall not mention. Prissy witches and arrogant wizards roam the halls and it is hard to avoid them let alone have a decent conversation with any of them."

"What about your friend, Alexis right? You know the girl I met last summer. She was nice."

"Alexis graduated this year. There is no one interesting left at that school."

"There's you."

"There's an idea. I will just start having conversations with myself. I will have so many best mates I won't know what to do."

Remus laughed. "That has never stopped you before."

Becky scoffed and hit Remus in the back of the head. "Thanks for your support," she muttered.

"Anytime," Remus said reaching across the table and stabbing a tomato on Becky's plate and popping it into his mouth.

"So how are your friends? The other marauders?"

"Mauraders, yeah. They're doing well. James got the most detentions through out the year so now Peter owes me 10 galleons. Sirius swore off girls...again," Remus added as a side note.

"When do I get to meet these friends of yours," Becky asked.

"Becky, I don't know."

"Come on! You know I will be good. I can sit like a polite little angel and sip my tea without making noise. What else are French schools good for if they don't teach you how to be a proper young lady?"

"You are not what I am worried about. It's them," Remus said with a sigh.

"They're your best mates. How can you be worried about them meeting me?"

"Er, they have some dirt on me…" Remus trailed off.

Becky laughed. "I do too. I have the embarrassing pre-Hogwarts stories. What could they possibly know about you that I don't already know?"

"You would be surprised," Remus muttered.

"Oh? Remus Lupin, the angel of Jane Lupin's eye has done scandalous things while attending school. Tut tut Mr. Lupin. Tut tut," Becky mocked clicking her tongue.

"Nothing scandalous. Just things," Remus turned away from his friend. He became engrossed in watching the front door as a woman walked in carrying a tub full of potatoes. She walked behind the bar and disappeared into the darkness of the kitchen. Sneaking a quick glance at Becky, Remus saw the unsure glance the girl was giving him. "Don't worry about it, Becky. I just want to keep my school life separate from the home life. I like what I have and I don't want to ruin that."

Becky's smile dropped. This happened every time meeting the marauders was brought up. Remus was very secretive and would get quiet when ever Becky mentioned the subject. Remus was never quiet when he was with her, except with conversations went in the direction of school secrets. Questions and possibilities had been running through Becky's mind for years, but she chose not to push the subject...ever. She trusted her best friend. She just wished that he would tell her what was always bothering him.

She was about to press the matter some more when Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, came over to them.

"Is there anything else I can get for you," Tom asked. Usually Tom did not make it his personal duty to hand out check on customers and hand out receipts, but Becky had a sneaking suspicion Tom just like seeing her and Remus argue over the bill.

Remus looked down at the empty plates and glasses. "No thank you, Tom. I think we are all set."

"Alright, pay at the bar when you are ready then," Tom smiled as he gathered everything from the table. Before leaving he placed a piece of paper down in the middle of the table. "I will let you two fight it out."

Every time they went to the Leaky Cauldron, Becky and Remus would fight over who paid. Remus was about to reach out for the bill, but Becky beat him to it slapping his hand away.

"It's my turn, Rem. You paid last time," Becky shook her head looking at her friend who was now looking at the bar with a curious expression on his face.

Without missing a beat, Remus asked, snapping his attention back to Becky, "How do you even remember that? That was months ago."

"Because we had just finished getting our supplies for school and I had to pay twice as much for my books. It being my Nasty prep exam years; extra practice books for each class were required. Even though I still have another year or so before I take my Nasty exams. Because I had to pay for so many books, you insisted on paying for dinner. It is one of those random things that have nothing to do with school so I seem to remember. If only I could use my remembering powers for things that are actually important like what kind of ingredients go into a living death potion."

"That's right, but how about we forget about your super power. Well we could just forget about that and I could just…"

"Don't even try it," Becky interrupted slapping Remus' hand away from the bill. "It's my turn and you know it. Stop trying to be a nice guy. We both know that it's just a show."

"Oi, I can be a nice guy," Remus defended rubbing his hand.

"Then prove it and allow me to pay," Becky challenged.

Knowing he was defeated, Remus gave a curt nod. He hated being challenged. Perhaps that is why he ended up being friends with the Marauders. During his first and second years' of Hogwarts they were constantly testing him, trying to get him to open up. It took a while for him to finally snap, Peter ended up at the receiving end of a bad case of boils erupting all over his face. Of course, Remus would never do something so extreme to Becky.

"Fine," Remus pouted. "I hate it when you challenge me."

"I know, but when I do I get whatever I want from you," Becky said with a smirk. She began pulling coins out of her purse, but threw one at Remus when he started making faces.

"I'm keeping this," Remus laughed as a movement by the bar once again caught his eye. A familiar head of hair ducked behind a booth and Remus did not want his friend to see who it was. "I'll make you a deal, you give me the money and I'll pay."

Becky carefully counted out the exact amount of coins. She remembered the first time Remus taught her how to count wizarding change. Luckily she learned quickly and survived the reticule from her best mate. "See you out front."

Remus scooped the coins off the side of the table into his opposite hand. He watched Becky leave the tavern before he stood from the table. Four feet came into view just around the booth by the bar. Quickly Remus stepped in front of the two prone bodies.

The two raven heads followed Remus' legs up to his face. A chorus of incomplete sentences and finger pointing rose from the two on the floor.

"What are you doing here," Remus questioned. "Did you follow me?"

Again more tunes of unfinished sentences swam through Remus' ears. "You know what? I don't care what you were doing. Just don't expect me to join in with whatever ridiculous plans the two of you have concocted in those skulls of yours."

Sirius finally found his voice. "Not to worry, mate, we won't involve you in our latest plans. Unless you decide to willingly work with us on this."

"Maybe in a couple of weeks," Remus replied. "Now if you excuse me, I must get home. My mum is waiting for me."

Sirius and James watched their friend pay at the bar before leaving.

"Do you think he really excused himself to go visit his mother," James questioned.

Sirius smirked. "Not a chance. It's that girl again."

"We better leave our investigations for a later day. Moony is too suspicious of us right now. So I suggest we pay a call upon his house. However, we'll wait a couple of days to throw him off of our trail."

"Agreed."

"Are you boys going to buy something or are you going to lay on my floor all night."

Both boys jumped up and looked at the barkeep with guilty expressions.

"Sorry, Tom," James replied sheepishly. "Two butterbeers please."


	4. Chapter 4: Habits of Eating

A/N: Hi everyone! I am so sorry for the delay. I decided to change some of the content around at the last minute and had to write in a new section. Thank you to all of my followers and to those of you who have reviewed. I really appreciate all of the support you have given me so far. If you have questions, comments, or just feel like dropping a message in general, I welcome them all.

And just to make sure I cover all bases, I am merely borrowing the HP world so my interpretation of Remus Lupin can come to life. Now, chapter 4!

*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O***Remus Lupin, Age 5***O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"Mum, I don't feel good," a young boy with fresh scars stated. He looked exhausted and pained. The night before had been yet another rough night for the little werewolf. Transforming into anything that was not typical for the human body was always painful, but changing into something that seemed to find elation in sound of breaking bones made the change much worse.

"Rem, darling. You need to eat something," Remus' mother coaxed her child. "You had a very long night. Please eat."

Jane Lupin set a plate of steak strips, chips, and a salad in front of her small whimpering child. The full moon had taken a lot of energy out of young Remus. Jane feared that if her son did not eat soon he would collapse from lack of food in his system. However, every time she tried to put a piece of steak to Remus mouth, he would turn away with a frantic shake of his head. "Remus, why won't you eat?"

"I won't eat that. I can't eat that." Remus' golden brown orbs filled with tears. "Please mum, don't make me eat that."

"Why my love," the worried mother questioned.

"The smell gives me a horrible feeling. A feeling like I did something terrible last night when I couldn't control...him."

Studying her son, Jane could see how the full moons were impacting her only child not only physically, but mentally as well. She watched as Remus sniffed the plate of food set on his lap. He gave a dry heave as the smell wafted to his nostrils. He took the smallest bite of meat to appease his mother, but immediately spat it back out. "I'm sorry mum," he whispered.

Jane merely nodded her head as she removed the offending plate from her son's grasp. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and walked out his room without a word. Once in the kitchen she scrapped the plate clean bursting into sobs; the shaking of her body caused the plate to slip from her hands, landing on edge and shattering.

After a few minutes, Remus carefully entered the kitchen to find his mom on the floor crying. Her wand was pointed at broken ceramic pieces of a plate littering the floor, but no magic came forth from the wand. With as much energy as he could muster, the young werewolf hurried to his mother's side. Even at a young age, Remus could see the hurt his mother was going through because of him being a werewolf. They had lost so much and they continued to struggle every day.

Remus wrapped his small arms around his mum. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, mummy."

"Please don't apologize, poppet. We'll get through this. It will get better. I promise."

"How can you promise?"

"Because we have each other and we will learn how to deal with this together. As long as we do not abandon the possibility of you having a normal life, then things will get better."

They remained on the floor of their kitchen for hours. Neither one of them talking. The only sound that seemed to disturb their silence was the low rumbling of two stomachs. The rumbles was followed by laugher.

"Alright, Rem, what sounds good to eat right now," Jane asked the boy curled up in her lap.

"No meat," came the reply.

"No meat, huh," Jane repeated as she flicked her right wrist. The magic flowed out of the wand in her hand with ease, fixing the previously broken plate and sending it into the sink where it began to wash itself. "Well, let us see what we have." Together the mother and son duo searched the kitchen for appealing sounding food without the contaminate of animal protein.

A few minutes of searching through cupboards and ice chests revealed a variety of fixings for a salad.

"What do you say to a nice salad—," Jane checked the clock on the wall to see how long they had been in the kitchen, "for lunch."

"With eggs!"

"With eggs? What kind of salad has eggs in it?"

"Egg Salad!"

Jane laughed. "Of course, we can definitely make some egg salad. Would you like bread to go with that egg salad?"

"Yes, bread!"

"Alright, egg salad and break it is. Watch and learn, love. I will be teaching you how to perform magic before you know it."

"No, I want to do it the muggle way like Becky and her mum," Remus decided. He was always fascinated when he got to go next door for meals. Everything was done without magic and to someone who grew up with magic, the muggle way of life was fascinating.

"Sure, we can do it the muggle way. If you are feeling up to it why don't you run over and invite Becky and Nancy for lunch."

"Yay!" Remus ran out of the house, not carrying he was still in his sleeping clothes. He arrived a few minutes later with a girl a year younger than him and a woman about Jane's age.

"I hear you would like us to join you for lunch," Nancy Fourneir said as she walked into the kitchen with the two giggling children.

"Of course," Jane smiled as she handed two small plates to each of the tittering children. "Set the table please."

With a little bickering, some significant glances, and lots of laugher the meal was under way.

"You know, when you get older you will have so many girls falling in love you, my sweet," Jane said as she pinched Remus' egg salad filled cheeks.

"Ew, why would you say that, mum," the five year old asked.

"Every girls likes a sensitive guy. And you, my love, are sweet, and kind, and now a vegetarian. Girls love a boy who respects animals," Nancy replied.

"That's one of the reasons I fell in love with your father," Jane said with a sad smile as she remembered her brief time with her husband.

"Ewww, mum," Remus' cringed at his mother's reminiscing. He chose to ignore the sharp gasp from the little girl sitting next to him."Girls are icky. I don't want girls loving me."

"But I love you," Jane said while tickling Remus. His shrill laugher seemed to light up the once dark mood in the kitchen.

"You're not a girl. You're a mum." To a five year old, his logic was undeniable.

"I'm a girl," Becky said not wanting to be ignored.

"You're not a girl. You're a Becky," Remus punctuated by sticking out his tongue; to which Becky returned the gesture.

Nancy leaned over to her friend Jane, who was watching the young pair with interest. "What do you think will happen once they get old enough to realize that boys and girls are not 'icky'?"

*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O***Remus Lupin, Summer after 6****th**** Year***O*O*O*O*O*O*O*O*

"It is bad enough that every girl we walked past today smiled at you, but did you have to wink at them," Becky questioned. Her brown hair spilled out across the slightly damp grass where she laid down in the park near her house. The pair spent many days while growing up running around the park chasing after each other. As they got older they spent less time running and more time lounging in the grass talking. "You are such a flirt sometimes."

"Am I sensing a bit of jealousy in that lovely voice of yours," Remus asked putting his hands behind his head as he too lay on the ground mere centimetres from his friend. "Did you want me to flirt with you, dear Becky? I know how much you love it when I do so."

"Flirting will get you nowhere, Lupin," Becky laughed. "Sometimes I wonder if you really do spend too much time with males at that school of yours. What happened to the sweet little boy that I knew so long ago? Where is my dear little friend Remmy?"

"Good riddins," Remus said shaking his head back and forth on the moist ground.

"I bet your mum misses that little boy too," Becky continued ignoring Remus' previous comment. "Speaking of mums, mine said that we are to have breakfast at nine in the morning. She's making your favourite."

"Bacon, Sausage, with a side of liver," Remus wondered out loud with a smile on his face.

"Yes of course," Becky replied. "We should know what we can and cannot feed you after over a decade and a half of knowing each other. You git," She added as a side note.

"Any reason as to why we have to have breakfast so early," Remus whined. He hated getting up early, especially during the summer when he didn't have to make the effort for classes.

"Nine isn't that early," Becky replied. "If you don't show up to breakfast on time, I am sure my mother will force feed you meat products. You should know she has no rhyme or reason to her madness. Then again I won't be too happy either if you miss breakfast."

"I see where you get your madness," Remus murmured earning him a hard shove. "Often the Mauraders still can't believe that I don't eat meat."

"Are you ever going to tell me your real reason for not eating meat? And no, don't give me that eight year old logic again...'it's yucky'. I believe that seventeen year old wizard would have more to say than that. Now tell me you toe-rag!" Becky yelled mockingly as she flung her arm onto Remus' stomach with a hollow thud.

Remus flinched at the impact and then laughed. "Such rude things coming out of your mouth today. Does your mum know that you speak that way to me? I'll have you know she adores me like a son."

"You practically are her son. I swear some days she sees you more than she sees me. And sometimes she prefers you over, as you say, my maddness."

"Your mum loves seeing you...when the lights are off."

Rebecca jumped up. "Remus Lupin, did you just insinuate that I am ugly?"

"Of course not," Remus replied nonchalantly. "You may not be a swan, but you definitely are not a dog."

"You are such a horrible human being," Becky exclaimed. "I would so hex you if I could or maybe I will create the living death potion and feed it to you."

"One of the many benefits of me being older and actually knowing what a living death potion can do. Because I am older and wiser than you, I can insult you all I want and there is nothing you can do about it. Plus my mum would never hurt her only child. I am her angel."

"I could cry if you insulted me," Becky pouted, adding a few mock sniffs for good measure.

"You haven't cried since I left for Hogwarts."

"Not true. I cried this morning."

"And what, pray tell, were you crying about this morning," Remus asked as he rose to a sitting position. He looked over into the face of his best friend. Her eyes sparkled with amusement like they always did when she teased Remus.

Becky sat up too and inched closer to Remus as if to whisper some kind of secret in his ear like they did when they were children. She let out a small breath of air before she spoke, "The fact that I had to see your ugly mug."

Remus burst out laughing. "Touche."

It took the two friends a few minutes to sober up. The cloud cover above them passed before their eyes as they laid on the ground.

"In all seriousness, Remus," Becky began, "Mum wants to have an earlier breakfast so we can spend the rest of the day doing birthday activities. I want you there for all of the meals and activities, Rem."

"I don't know if I can make it tomorrow."

"Oh, no! Don't you dare give me that "if" rubbish. You have missed too many of my birthday parties over the years. This time you will be coming even if it means I have to tie you to a chair, force feeding you cake."

It wasn't Remus' fault he had to miss so many birthday activities. He couldn't control when the full moon rose in the sky. Life always seemed to revolve around when the full moon reared its ugly head. How could such a beautiful celestial orb cause so much pain? Like the pull the moon had on the ocean, the moon created a pull of adverse affects on thousands of witches and wizards across the globe.

"You know if you don't start paying attention to me, I might just uninvited you to my birthday," Becky crossed her arms and turned her back on Remus.

Being absorbed in his own devices, Remus did not notice his friend until she had travelled a few meters away. He ran to catch up with her, but she would have none of that behaviour. As soon as Remus was right behind her, Becky took off at a sprint.

"Come back here, child," Remus yelled.

"Never! You don't listen to me so why should I listen to you, old man!"

"Old man! That's it! You can question my sanity, you can insult my looks, but don't you dare call me and old man!"

Remus was about to reach out and grab Becky, but she stealthily dodged under his out stretched arms. In her change of direction, she slid into a crouching position; arms extended as if ready to fight. Remus stumbled to a stop taking a similar pose to that of a wizard's dual.

Becky smirked, "You dare challenge a fencing champion, old man."

"Oh, I know I can't beat you with a sword, but I know I can beat you with this," Remus quickly scanned the street. Upon seeing no one in sight, the young wizard pulled out his wand with a flick of his wrist. Becky was hit with a jet of opaque light causing her to fall back onto the grass.

Remus calmly walked over to the girl laying in the grass breathing hard. "No need to challenge you, love. I always know I will win, in looks and in a dual."

"I'll give you one of those points and I will give you a hint; it isn't your looks."

"Why you little...," Remus laughed as he chased his friend once more on their way home.


	5. Chapter 5: Not Just the Detention

A/N: Like previously, I do not own the rights to this fantastic world. I merely adapt it for my own amusings. Here is chapter five after a long wait (sorry about that by the way. Who knew not having internet for a week would be so difficult). Please feel free to drop me a question, comment, or observation about the story. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy!

Always,

Orangezauber

**********************Hogwarts, Second Year*****************************

"What are you so anxious about, Remus," James asked as he sat down next to Remus who had barely touched his breakfast.

"I bet he's waiting on a letter from that mystery girl he doesn't ever talk about," Sirius replied sitting across the table. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen one of those letters in quite a while."

"Shut up," Remus snapped stabbing his eggs with excess force. "It is none of your business who my letters are from and whether or not I receive one."

James put a hand on Remus' shoulder, "Mate, if it bothers you this much than it is our business."

"Yeah, you try living with someone that doesn't know which emotion to show," Sirius added.

"I do put up with that on a regular basis. I live with you don't I Sirius," Remus growled. He was growing tired of his roommates constantly butting into his business. It shouldn't matter to them if Becky writes to him or not.

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed," that was uncalled for."

"Then keep your mouth shut about things that are none of your business!"

Sirius leaned over to the first year girl sitting next to him and whispered, "Remind me never to get on Remus' bad side like this again."

The girl murmured an agreement before being startled right out of her seat.

"I can hear you, you know," Remus practically yelled slamming his fork down on his plate.

"What? How could you hear that," James asked eyeing Remus. "I am sitting slightly closer to them and I couldn't even hear what Sirius said."

James then flicked his eyes over to Sirius who slightly tilted his head in response.

"Don't give each other that annoying look. Yes that one, the one you to always share when you think you know about something you don't."

"If you would only tell us what is wrong then we might be able to underst—"

"No," Remus interrupted.

"Come on, Remus," Sirius whined as he put on his trade make puppy dog face.

"No," Remus roared. Students from the surrounding tables quickly looked over to see what the ruckus was between the three third years. It was a rare occasion to hear Remus Lupin raise his voice to anyone let alone two of his roommates. He was normally the one who kept his head about him when stressful situations surfaced. Sirius was the normal candidate for outbursts during meals, not Remus.

"All you want is gossip," Remus continued to yell. "You only act like my friends when you want something juicy."

"Now that was a low blow," trying his hardest not to yell back Sirius' voice hardened after Remus scoffed. "Look it's not our fault you are so sensitive and secretive. You hardly ever talk to us and if you do it is always about homework, the weather, or something mundane like that. You are constantly writing, to Merlin knows who, and you shut everyone else out of your life. There are plenty of people who are actually physically here.

"So you haven't gotten a letter in a few weeks, big deal. We have been waiting for you to open up to us so we can be friends for the past two years. I'll be damned if I have to go the entire year with you moping around like some spoiled child because one person refuses to acknowledge your existence. If this is how you treat the people who are trying to be your friend than I hate to see how you treat your actual friends. No wonder they don't want to write you anymore."

By this point Remus was absolutely fuming. Instead of listening anymore to Sirius' vocalizations Remus got up from the bench and began to walk out of the Great Hall. Peter came in at that point and was harshly pushed out of the way by an extremely irate roommate.

"That's right," Sirius yelled after him, "leave because you are too afraid to hear the truth. Find a corner and pout, see if we care!"

"I don't even know what is going on, but that sounded really harsh, Sirius," Peter said sitting in Remus' recently vacated seat.

Still glaring at the door Sirius replied, "Well, he had to hear it. He really shouldn't talk to us like that if he didn't want to play the game."

"That must be some girl to get him all worked up like that," James sighed. "I don't understand why he gets so testy sometimes."

"Is this about the girl he's been writing to," Peter asked looking between his two friends. They nodded.

"You don't think she found out that he's a..." Peter trailed off.

"Nah, if she is as great as he seems to think than she would just abandon him like that," James said shaking his head in response. "Plus, we don't even know if our suspicions about him are true."

"Well, they must have had a fight or something if it isn't the 'you-know-what problem'," Sirius whispered.

**Summer After 6th year**

"Mums we're home," Becky yelled as she walked into her house with Remus closely following.

"Kitchen," came a joint yell and then laughter.

"Jeeze," Remus said. "They haven't changed, have they?"

"Of course not," Becky replied. "Where do you think all of our immaturities came from? I honestly don't think we came by them ourselves."

"I often think we are the mature ones," Remus said. "Our mothers are such children sometimes."

"REMUS!" someone shouted before Remus was engulfed in a strong hug.

"Case and point," Remus choked out causing Becky to giggle. "Nancy let go. Can't. Breath."

"Oops sorry Remus darling," Nancy, Becky's mum, mumbled. "I just get so excited when I see my boy. It's been forever since I saw you last. Have you grown again?"

"Stop hogging him, Nancy," Remus' mum said. "He's my baby boy and I haven't seen him since Christmas."

Remus again turned to Becky and mouthed 'help me' as his mum wrapped his arms around him. Becky merely shrugged sitting down at the kitchen table and helping herself to a muffin.

"So tell us Remus, how has your school year been? We are dying for some information," Jane Lupin asked. "Your letters leave much to be desired. I want to make sure my baby is being a good boy...well maybe not good with those boys you run around with."

"Mum," Remus moaned sitting down next to Becky.

"What," Becky cried repeatedly hitting Remus on the arm as soon as he sat down. "What have you done? Why didn't you tell me you got into trouble?"

"Ow, Becky, stop," Remus flailed trying to catch Becky's hands to keep her from hitting him. "It wasn't a big deal. It was James' fault I got those detentions anyway."

"Not according to the letter your mum received from your deputy headmistress," Nancy said. "It didn't sound like it was an accident. You boys could have really injured that Severus Snape."

"I had nothing to do with it," Remus exclaimed. "It was all Sirius. He thought it would be funny. I would have helped had I been in the right state of mind to do so."

"My mum knows before I do," Becky pouted as she continued to hit Remus in the arm. "I thought we were friends, Remus."

"I don't tell you things because you beat on me," Remus murmured rubbing his arm. "Merlin woman, I think you bruised my arm."

"Yes, poor baby. You bruise like a peach," Becky laughed hitting Remus again for good measure. Remus tried to shift out of the way, but Becky's hand came at his shoulder too fast.

Remus yelped as he was hit once more. "Mother! Do something! She's beating on me."

"You should be glad I don't beat you," Jane laughed. "Maybe you shouldn't keep secrets from Becky. Then she might not feel so inclined to slap you around."

"I am surrounded by violent women. Remind me why I come home," Remus said to no one particular as the three closest females in his life laughed at his misfortune. He walked out of the kitchen, sitting down in one of the living room chairs. Within seconds he could hear a faint sound of erratic breathing behind him. It sounded like someone was trying extremely hard not to laugh as they stuck up on him.

Within seconds a pair of legs, followed by the body of his best friend, bounded over the back of Remus' chair.

Becky looked disappointed. "You didn't startle. I'm terribly disappointed."

"I heard you coming, Bec," Remus replied while removing a piece of hair from Becky's cheeks to behind her ear.

Becky tried to hide her reddening cheeks by slapping Remus' hand away. "I wouldn't have to hit you if you would stop touching me."

Remus laughed. "You know you like it when I do this..." Remus stuck his hand to Becky's face. No matter how she tried to pull away, Remus kept his palm in place.

"Gerroff me, you toe-rag!" In her struggle, Becky stuck her tongue out and made contact with the base of Remus' hand.

Not expecting his friend to lick his hand, Remus jumped back with a yell. "Disgusting!"

"That is what you get for being rude," the brunette countered while fluttering her eyelashes. "Now that I have your attention, tell me why you got a detention. I want to know all of the dirty gossip. You never mention getting in trouble in your letters."

"It's nothing, Becky. Nothing of any importance," Remus replied sitting on the chair across from Becky. "Sirius just got a little crazy. Unfortunately it involved me, without my consent, might I add."

"Is this one of those things I don't seem privileged enough to know or is it one of those things where you say I wouldn't understand," Becky's eyes flashed. For once she just wanted Remus to tell her something about his life that wasn't all laughs with the guys. She thought getting a detention would have been something Remus would have told her, especially if it dealt with James and Sirius. It must deal with one of those secret "Maurader business" things she wasn't privy to knowing.

"C'mon, Bec. Don't get mad," Remus approached his friend who was now staring cross-armed out the window with an angry scowl on her face. "Hey, you have to trust me. There are some things I cannot tell you. It could ruin our friendship and I can't bear the thought of losing you."

Becky flinched away from Remus. "No. I try to be understanding of your secrets. I try to understand why you won't introduce me to your friends. Did you ever think I might be with okay with whomever or whatever you are no matter what. You are my best friend, damn it, but I don't want to keep skirting around this double life you have. I'm here, Remus. Trust me."

"I do trust you," Remus sighed again. "I just don't trust myself sometimes."

"That makes absolutely no sense," Becky shook her head. "Your mom is right. Your letters leave much to be desired."

They sat in silence, each one stewing in the heat of the argument. Jane and Nancy peeked out into the living room to see why everything had gone so quite. They saw Rebecca with her back turned to Remus and Remus with his head in his hands. The two mums worried every time their children fought. Both of them knew how difficult it was to keep secrets from the people you care about the most. Retreating back to the kitchen, the two women shared a significant glance before hearing the front door open and close.

Becky suddenly stood. She couldn't handle just sitting there not saying anything. It may have started out as some silly little argument, but Becky couldn't let it go. Instead of exchanging more harsh words she opted for the next best option. "You know what? I think I am going to head home. I'll see you in the morning."

"Becky, please," Remus begged as he stumbled to his feet. However, it was too late. Becky was already out the door. Remus sighed as he watched the girl walk next door from the front porch. When she turned the corner around the fence, Remus noticed two heads of black hair appear out from behind a tree. Already frustrated with the situation that just happened, Remus stormed out of the house towards the two figures.

"You and you! Quit following me," Remus said as he pulled out your wand.

"Whoa there, mate. What's got your wand in a twist," Sirius casually asked as if he belonged in the area. "James and I just fancied a stroll."

"You live miles away. This isn't just some stroll," Remus seethed.

"Clearly, you're upset about something," James soothed seeing the fire building in his friend's normally calm exterior. "Why don't we go to the park or something and kick around a football or something."

"I don't want to kick a damned football," Remus yelled. "I just want you to leave me alone. I said I couldn't stay with you for a couple of weeks. Why can no one ever respect my privacy?"

"Alright, mate. Just lower your wand and we'll leave," James countered waving his empty hands in a motion of surrender.

"Fine," Remus yelled one last time before crossing the road again back to his house.

Sirius let out a breath once the door across the street had closed. "Merlin, I hate it when he gets like that."

James nodded. "It has to be about the girl because the full moon was a couple of weeks ago. Don't you remember a few years back when Remus blew up at you when this Becky girl wasn't writing him?"

"And this is why I swore off girls," Sirius agreed.

"Mate, that is not why you swore off girls," James countered, raising an eyebrow. "You swore off girls because all the girls realized you're a cheap date."

"I am not a cheap date! Girls just don't seem to appreciate my humour."

"And by humour you mean, pick up lines. I hate to break it to you mate, but not all girls like to be complemented about their "apples" as you put it."

"For the thousandth time, she was actually holding up two apples. I was merely commenting on how big and delicious they looked and if I could have one. That slap was not called for!"

"Sure mate whatever you say," James chuckled before changing the subject back to their original conversation before an angry werewolf interrupted them. "What do you say we wait until Pete's mum lets him out of the house? Then we can pay our friend Remus another visit."

Sirius nodded, watching the windows across the street for any passing figures. "I whole heartedly agree. I don't want to get yelled at again. Getting yelled at by Moony is worse that getting yelled at by your mum. At least Mrs. P doesn't have that vein pop out of her forehead."

"Truer words have never been uttered," James said as the two of them disappeared from sight with a 'pop'.


	6. Chapter 6: Early Birthday Confessions

***~*~*Night after Becky's 10th Birthday*~*~***

There was a periodic taping at Remus' window. He groggily looked at his window, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The tap happened again. Remus slowly got out of bed taking care not to upset his tired aching muscles. Using his bed as a support, Remus hobbled over to his bedroom window and opened the blinds. With a bit of effort, he unlatched the window and slid it up. A rush of cool air swept through the room, ruffling hair, papers, and drapes.

As soon as Remus looked out the window he saw a head of brown hair below. The hair seemed to sparkle in the waning moon. The head looked up and Remus was able to see a radiant smile on the face of his, now 10 year old, best friend. The sharp senses were still wearing off, but he could make out every feature of her face. He thought he would be able to distinguish her features even if he didn't have heightened senses once a month.

"Becky, what are you doing," Remus asked making sure he was quiet enough to not to disturb his sleeping mother, who's window was right next to his.

"You missed my birthday," Becky replied with a slight drop of her smile. It never dropped completely because she was relieved to see her friend up and about.

"I know, I am so sorry," Remus bowed his head shamefully. His dishevelled golden brown hair fell into his face, covering his tired eyes.

"Come let me in, Rem. I have something for you," Becky said gentlyshaking a box she held in her hands.

Remus nodded. He turned away from the window and made his way downstairs, relying heavily on the stair railings to support his weak body from toppling into a heap at the foot of the stairs. Once the bottom step had been accomplished, he went to unlock the back door for Becky.

Becky fidgeted while she waited for the door to be opened. Her tiny fingers drummed on the box she was carrying. Once the door opened, it revealed a tired and drained Remus. She smiled.

"Thanks, Rem," Becky whispered giving her friend a nudge on the shoulder and another smile.

"Mm-hm," Remus mumbled looking at Becky expectedly.

"You look terrible. Let's get you back to your room before you collapse," Becky said while using her free hand to lift Remus' arm over her shoulders. She closed the door with her foot, which closed with a soft 'click,' and began walking her best friend back upstairs where his recently vacated bed awaited him.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come to your birthday," Remus said once he was back in bed. His tired eyes glimmered with remorse and sadness from missing the festivities.

Becky sat down on the bed next to Remus. "Don't worry about it. That's why I'm here."

Becky handed the box to Remus. "Open it."

Remus gave Becky a curious look before he did as he was told. Inside the box he found a two party hats, two pieces of cake, a small candle, a match, and a bar of chocolate.

"Because you couldn't come to my party, I brought my party to you," Becky beamed.

Remus was overrun with happiness. He nearly dropped the box trying to hug Becky. The horrible sickness he had endured over the past couple of days due to his transformations was nearly forgotten with this small gesture.

Becky squealed, "Remus! Watch it! You're going to drop the cake."

"Oh sorry," Remus said pulling back with a smile plastered on his worn-out face. He reached into the box and handed the small girl a piece of what looked to be chocolate cake. He took the other piece for himself. Remus retrieved the candle and placed it into Becky's slice of cake. She shook her head and promptly took it out, placing it in piece of cake her friend was holding.

Again, Remus looked at her confused. "But it is your birthday. According to tradition, you get to blow out the candle."

"But I did that earlier today," Becky replied. "I already got my chance to make a wish. Now it's your turn."

For the second time that night, Remus was absolutely stunned by his friend's generous actions. Becky lit the candle and waited for Remus to think of a wish. He thought hard about what he wanted. Looking up at Becky it came to him. He felt a little selfish wishing for it, but it was something he desperately wanted. Right as Remus blew out the candle he thought 'I wish Becky was a witch, so I wouldn't have to hide the wizarding world from her.'

The smoke swirled around after the candle went out. Becky clapped quietly until the last bit of smoke had dispersed throughout the room.

"The chocolate is for you," Becky said handing the bar over to Remus after she had finished clapping. "I know it makes you feel better."

"No, no. It's still your birthday," Remus protested. "I know this is your favourite kind of chocolate."

"Yes, my birthday and I can do whatever I want with birthday gifts."

Remus nodded in agreement.

"Then the chocolate is yours. It's still my birthday and I want you to have the chocolate."

"Thanks, Becky," Remus said leaning over and giving Becky a kiss on the cheek. "For everything."

The two friends ate cake and shared bits of chocolate in a comfortable silence. Midnight came and went as the two continued to share each other's company. At 3 o'clock in the morning Remus let out a yawn he could no longer stifle.

"It's late, Rem. You should get some sleep."

"Thanks again, Becky. This was nice."

Becky smiled as Remus laid his head on his pillow and promptly fell asleep.

Becky pulled the covers up over Remus' sleeping form. She made sure Remus was asleep before taking the party hat off his head and setting it on the night table. Becky then picked up the book next to bedside lamp and sat back down on the bed with her back resting on the wall. Smiling to herself, Becky began to read "The Phases of the Moon: For Kids." Soon, Becky too fell asleep.

***~*~*Summer after Remus' 6th year...Very early morning of Becky's 16th birthday*~*~***

Remus was pacing his bedroom, hands in his hair. He hated it when he fought with Becky. Fights didn't happen often, but when they did fight the topic always skirted around his most prized secret. An aguement every once in a while seemed worth it when Remus' mind jumped ahead to a lonely existence from telling his best friend he was a werewolf.

_"But James, Sirius, and Peter know about your "furry little secret." And they are still your friends._" Remus' inner thoughts explained. The three boys had figured it out on their own and confronted him. Remus didn't have to tell them outright. All he had to do was confirm their suspicions, after much coaxing, and answer questions.

_"No,"_ Remus continued to fight with his thoughts, _"Becky is different. I have known her my entire life. We've been through everything together. I can't lose her."_

_ "But if she was your best friend, then she would understand,_" his mind reasoned.

Remus stopped pacing and stood in the dark of his room staring out the window at the neighbouring house. He could just make out the silhouette of a person behind the curtains. Becky. The orientation of their windows had been useful for late night communications, such as wild hand gestures or two tin cans attached by a string, a muggle invention Remus was fascinated by. Then again it could have been the girl with the other can talking to him late at night that fascinated Remus so much.

While considering the thoughts about just telling Becky about the werewolf problem, the light in the window he was watching extinguished.

_"No, I can't tell her. It isn't the time,"_ Remus decided as he continued to stare at the opposite window. He looked at his watch, which showed it was 1:30 in the morning. Had he really been pacing his room for two hours?

With a frustrated growl, Remus pulled his shade before walking out his bedroom door. Even if he decided it wasn't the time to tell Becky about his moonlit wanderings once a month, that didn't mean he couldn't pay her a visit now. Of course, she would still be mad at him and probably ask him to leave, but Remus had to make things right with her before breakfast.

Remus smiled as he thought to the birthday tradition Becky had started a few years previous. She would sneak over to his house, after their mums had gone to bed, and share her left over birthday cake with him. This year he would surprise her by going over the night before her birthday celebrations.

When Remus got to the Fourneir's backdoor he pulled out his wand and unlocked the door. He stepped into the dark hallway at the back of the house. To his left was the laundry room alcove. Straight ahead was the hallway leading to the living room. The kitchen was behind a white door off to the right.

Remus quietly swung the door open to the kitchen. He caught it before the door had the opportunity to swing in the opposite direction and placed the door in its original position. Misjudging the distance to the table, Remus stumbled into one of the kitchen chairs. He cursed quietly as he braced himself against the wall, lighting his wand with a murmured 'lumos.'

A pool of light from the wand revealed a rectangular cake in the middle of the table. The icing decorated the top of a cake with the phrase 'Sweet 16, sweet Rebecca Elsie!' Remus studied the rolling script of the lettering and smiled. Becky hated it when people used her first two names. With one last smile to the cake, Remus cut two pieces out of the cake and placed them on a plate he had conjured along with two conjured forks. He knew Nancy would notice the pieces missing, but he decided he couldn't go upstairs without some sort of peace offering.

Leaving the kitchen, Remus balanced the plate, his wand and the door before ascending the stairs to his best friend's bedroom. Once he reached the landing at the top of the stairs, Remus tip toed silently past Becky's mum's bedroom. There was no light under the door so that was a relief.

The door adjacent to Nancy's room was a light yellow. At eye level there was a line drawing of two people around the age of 14. Remus studied the drawing of him and Becky. Again, a smile was brought to his face as he looked at the drawing. Over the years, Becky had spent most of her free time, when she wasn't with Remus or studying, drawing or painting. Years of practice had refined Becky's raw talent because the girl definitely had a significant gift. Her father had been an artist when he was still around, but Remus had never met Becky's father. He had seen the painting in the living room by Frank James more times than he could count so he knew Becky had gotten her talent from her father.

With a sigh, Remus carefully pushed open the yellow door. In the wand light, a sleeping girl was visible underneath a sheet of orange. Brunette locks spilled out from the head of the covers over a pillow matching the colour of the bed sheets. A steady rise and fall of the bed covers could be seen surrounding the body that resided in the bed.

Remus placed the plate on the bed side table as he sat on the bed next to the sleeping figure. He leaned over to brush a piece of hair out of Becky's closed eyes. Her nose twitched a bit as the hair skimmed across her nose. With a quiet chuckle, Remus tickled his friend's nose with the tips of her own hair. Again, Becky twitched her nose before slowly opening her eyes.

It took Becky a minute to let her eyes adjust to the darkness of her room. She had a strange feeling that something was different about her room, as her eyes dilated to the shadows covering her sleeping space. Once the figure of a boy on her bed was clear, Becky gave a yelp and squished against the wall along side of her bed.

"It's only me, Bec," Remus explained with a smile in his voice.

Upon hearing the voice of her next door friend, Becky croaked out a sleepy, "get out, you toe rag."

Just like Remus had predicted his friend had demanded that he leave. "Come on, Becky. Please don't still be mad at me. I can't stand it when we get like this."

"I wouldn't be like this if you only trusted me."

"I do trust you. I don't trust myself to run afterwards."

Becky glared. "That is not an explanation. If you are not going to take this serious then get out right now."

"Please, trust me on this," Remus said as he pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. "I don't know why I can't just tell you. Please be patient with me."

"I'm tired of fighting over this. It is always the same argument."

"I know."

"Then spit it out. You woke me up. I'm pissed at you already so what can be worse."

"Believe me, I can tell you things that can be much worse."

Becky growled. "Then tell me Remus or else leave me the bloody hell alone."

"Fine," Remus said. He couldn't stand the fighting anymore. He would tell Becky one of the Marauder secrets, just not the one that could completely ruin his future with his friend. "You have to promise not to tell anyone what I am about to tell you." Becky slowly nodded, still glaring at Remus slightly.

"You have to understand that Sirius and James are really good at transfiguration. In fact they are geniuses at it." Remus could see Becky becoming more impatient by the second. "Anyway, they decided to become animagi, you know animals at will, during our third year. I am not going to go into detail as of why. I still think they are idiots for doing such an outrageous stunt. Anyway, this past year, Sirius got bored and came up this hair-brained idea to slip one of the people who he doesn't really like a sleeping potion. Once the person was a sleep, Sirius thought it would be funny to drag this person around the castle while he was a dog. A dog is the form Sirius took after his animagus transformation. Well, it wasn't a particularly good part of the month for me and I just snapped. I am a prefect at school and it is my duty to uphold the rules of the school. And I am not proud of what I did next, but at least it got Sirius to stop being stupid for that matter."

Becky had lifted her former glare. Instead, her eyes had taken a questioning appearance. "Remus, what did you do?"

"I cursed Sirius. Well it startled him and he ended up biting the person he was dragging around pretty hard. He bit hard enough to break a bone. Then he shifted back, no one else was in the hall at this point, and we began to argue and hex each other," Remus hung his head. "Someone must have heard us yelling, or Severus, that's who had been bitten by Sirius, screaming profanities at us, because one of my professors found us. One of my spells veered off its intended target and hit my potions professor. Let's just say I got two weeks of detention for dualing in the hallway."

Becky continued to stare at her friend with wide eyes. This was not the story she thought Remus was going to tell her. She thought it would be more revealing. She thought it was going to be a bigger secret getting into a dual with a friend. After a few more seconds, Becky burst into laughter. "Is that it?"

"That's the story of my detention, yes," Remus huffed crossing his arms.

"And you couldn't tell me that before because..." Becky continued to laugh.

"It was embarrassing." Remus provided. However, the real reason was he didn't want Becky to ask questions like '_why were you upset during a certain time of the month?'_ or _'why exactly did Sirius want to become a dog?'_

"If that is all. Then don't you dare keep something like that from me again."

Remus nodded. He would have to tell Becky about this dangerous problem, but tonight wasn't it. Some day she would know and she would be able to make the decision if she was going to continue to be friends with Remus. But Remus had decided that day was not the day of his best friend's birthday.

"Here, I brought a piece offering," Remus said handing Becky the plate of cake. "Happy Birthday, love."

Becky laughed again when she saw the pieced Remus had chosen. One piece had two letters "Re" and the other piece had the word "Elsie".

Over cake and birthday wishes the two friends had made up. They never fought long. They needed each other in their lives too much to let things get overboard. One day true secrets would be revealed. One day would be the true test of friendship, but when cake was involved all worries seem to go out the window.

After a few more laughs and giggles, the plate and forks had been disgarded on the bed side table. Heavy eyelids had taken over and sleep became the dominate thought between the two minds. Both friends soon fell asleep, cuddled against one another.

In the morning, there was a scream from downstairs causing both Becky and Remus to startle awake.

"Ahhhhhhhhh, what happen to my beautiful cake!"

* * *

**A/N: Thank you everyone for taking the time to read chapter 6. I am not completely happy with Remus' detention explanation. I really wanted him to tell Becky about him being a werewolf, but it didn't seem to be quite the time for that. Feel free to write a review or comment. It's nice to know what people are thinking about the story so far. And for anyone who is interested, I have posted a Harry Potter/OC story. I decided to post the HP/OC story so I don't get stuck with writer's block because I am solely focusing on this story. Thanks again for reading and reviewing! It's much appreciated!**

**Always,**

**orangezauber**


	7. Chapter 7: First Impressions

** *Fifth Year, Boy's Dorm***

Peter had been looking for his potions essay for the better part of an hour. He had finished it on time for once and was getting ready to put it into his school bag for the morning. After searching for a few minutes, Sirius strolled into the dorm room to see the place completely trashed, more so than usual. Sirius, thinking the situation was kind of funny decided to tease the shorter boy about how he had found this fantastic essay and eased the name, adding his own. Peter did not take kindly to any thought of his hard work being credited to someone else and launched himself forward knocking Sirius to the ground.

"Pete, get off you giant lug," Sirius shouted at his stout friend. "I swear I didn't take your essay. I was just joking with you."

Peter let out a whine as he removed himself from his ebony haired friend. He hated it when Sirius would joke with him like that and Sirius did it often. "Then where is it, Sirius?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask James or Remus." Sirius got up from the floor and brushed himself off. He walked back over to his bed, flopped down across it and fished his magazine out from under his pillow.

"I tried to find James before I started looking and I couldn't find him. And I don't want to bother Remus because he yelled at me earlier today," Peter said sitting down on the end of Sirius bed. "If I don't find it I am going to fail potions."

Without looking away from his magazine Sirius tried pushing Peter off the edge of the bed with his foot. "Remus is mad at me too. He'll get over it, mate. It's just that time of the month for him."

"I don't know how much more I can take of Remus' mood swings."

"You and me both, mate."

"How does that potion work again? Maybe if I have to re-write my essay I can write it on that..."

"I told you how it works, Pete. You create the potion, you drink the potion, you change into an animal. Bing, bang, boom!" Sirius yelled the last part as he continued to thumb through his last part.

Peter did not expect the sudden change in volume. He startled, hitting his head on the underside of his bed. Sirius chuckled at the commotion coming from the other side of the room. "Plus you can't write about that potion in your essay. We're risking our necks as it is even touching the book we found it in. We were nearly caught by Filch the night we nicked it from the library."

"I know, I just don't want Slughorn to fail me though. I worked really hard on that first essay and if I have to redo it I want to write about something exciting."

"Slughorn would never fail you, mate. I don't think he has failed anyone in the millions of years he has worked here."

"But he said he was going to fail me," Peter whined. "I really can't afford to fail a class. I'm not like you guys. I can't just write a paper the night before and expect it to get passing marks."

Peter stood up from the bed and began to pace the room, muttering to himself about past failures, potion explosions, Remus getting mad at him, and expulsion.

"For Merlin's sake! Would you just stop that. You're giving me a head ache listening to you talking to yourself," Sirius called out to his friend. When Peter didn't respond, Sirius hurled his magazine at the pacing boy. The magazine hit its intended target in the side of the face with a smack sound before fluttering to the floor.

Peter turned to Sirius startled. "Calm down, Pete. I'll help you look for it, but only because you are driving me crazy!"

"Thanks, Sirius!"

The two got down on their hands and knees and began searching under each bed. They barely got under James' bed due to all of the unwashed clothing and crumpled up quiddich gear hiding under his bed. They decided there was no way Peter's essay could have even made it under James' bed let alone be found if it had.

Together they looked under Remus' bed, which was a drastic change from James' walls of clutter. There were only a couple pairs of shoes, some rolls of dust and lint, and a piece of parchment.

"This looks like it has some potential," Sirius said as he grabbed the parchment. He and Peter sat on Remus' half made bed and looked over the paper.

The parchment proved to not be what they were looking for, but it caught the two teenagers' attention when they saw their names neatly printed in the first sentence. Their interest was peaked and showed no signs of stopping once they began reading the letter addressed to Remus.

...

_Remus,_

_You're mad at Sirius and Peter again? You should really give those two a break. I don't know them, but you really shouldn't be so cross with them all the time. It seems like some new disaster each month that makes you mad at them. Just remember that they are boys and they don't know any better. That's what I say to myself when I hang out with you and you irritate me. Hahaha._

_Anyway, my week has been boring...like always. Although, I am irritated at the girls in my dorm too (perhaps I should take my own advice). The girls in my dorm keep going through my drawers and pulling out the picture of the two of us mum took at the beginning of the summer. You know the one I'm talking about. Us, with our clothes covered in mud with dopey grins on our faces. They tease me with it 'Oh Becca, you are so lucky to have such a fit looking boyfriend.' 'I am so jealous that your boyfriend is English. English guys are so much more interesting than the French guys here.' 'Does he have any friends? Maybe you could set me up.' And my personal favourite…'Oh Rebecca, even under all that mud you can tell that he is fit. He can get dirty with me anytime.'_

_These girls are insufferable. They automatically assume that because I have a boy as a friend that we are dating. It is infuriating how they have created this entire relationship in those little bobble heads of theirs. It seems like this is all they ever talk about...make-up, hair, and boys. At least Alexis doesn't always talk about boys. She actually talks about intelligent things like books and homework._

_I am sorry to bore you once more with the ramblings of a teenage girl. Then again I am sure it is a...well, I'm not sure if 'nice' would be the correct word, but...a 'nice' change of pace all the same. One cannot have too much testosterone or estrogen in their lives or else they would explode. And from the sounds of it, my friend, your life is full of too much testosterone and mine is full of too much estrogen. If only it were winter or summer, then, I would be able to help you with that problem. We could spend our days in the tree-house laughing, or chasing gulls at the beach. _

_Oh and Please come save me! _

_Always,_

_Becky_

_P.S. Mum says hello and she wishes you all the best with your Ordinary Wizarding Levels. Or as she called it your 'Levels for ordinary wizards." Can you even consider a wizard to be ordinary? Anyway, a care package should be heading your way soon._

_..._

After Sirius finished reading he looked over to Peter, whose eyes were still rapidly moving back and forth across the parchment. Sirius rolled his eyes and waited for Peter to finish reading.

"I thought the girl Remus always talked to was a witch," Peter said as he looked up from the last line. "But she sounds like a muggle here."

"Agreed, all of her other letters made her sound like she was a witch," Sirius scanned the page again.

"Maybe she is just well informed about our world, I mean she is friends with Remus," Peter reasoned. "Remember the letter we found first year. She kept asking Remus all those questions about classes and creatures and magic."

"And you guys wonder why I get so frustrated with you."

Sirius and Peter immediately turn to the seething voice behind. They were too wrapped up in their musing to realize anyone had walked into the room.

"Here, Peter," Remus glared shoving a roll of parchment towards the chubby boy. "It was downstairs under the study table. Now get off my bed so I can catch up on sleep before the full moon."

As soon as the two friends were told off, they scrabbled from the bed. Remus continued to glare at them as he shut the curtains around his bed and promptly cast a silencing charm within the small enclosure.

"Well," Sirius began as he looked down at the paper in Peter's hand. "At least you have your essay now."

* * *

***Summer after 6th Year, Remus' House***

"Do you think we should start setting limits," Nancy asked from her position at the kitchen window. "I mean look at them."

Jane walked over to the window. As she was staring out the window in the direction of the two teenagers engaged in a mock dual using paint brushes she replied, "I don't know how much it would help if we set limits. And I am not sure I would want to set limits. We've seen the way they look at each other and how they go out of their ways to touch an arm or lean against the other's side."

Nancy laughed in agreement. "I think they know how they feel about each other deep down. I would be surprised if it didn't happen by the time they got back from school."

"I have to agree. They must feel something for each other. If only you saw them a couple of weeks ago in the morning. They were both curled up on Remus' bed, comfortably embracing the other. The mother in me wanted to overreact, but the romantic in me took over and I just allowed them to sleep."

"That's where she went," Nancy gave her friend a shocked look. "I thought they only did that during birthdays. On the morning of Becky's birthday I caught Remus trying to sneak out of the house. They have a sleep over each year."

"Are we bad mothers if we are encouraging this kind of behaviour?"

"I'm not sure. We don't have any other children to compare them to and you're the only other mother I really spend time with."

The two women turned back to the window to watch their children. Remus was sitting on the ground with a really bored look on his face. Becky had her head tilted to the side as she looked around her painting easel in her attempt to paint her bored, and not so willing looking, participant. Nancy and Jane laughed as Becky pointed her paintbrush at Remus. Paint splattered all over his face. His shocked face quickly turned into one of joking rage as he lunged forward. Becky's scream was drowned out by a loud clattering in the living room.

"What was that," Nancy asked looking away from her child being tackled to the ground by her best friend.

Jane shook her head with a worried expression. "I think someone just came in through the fire place."

Jane carefully pulled her wand out of her sleeve and crept into the hallway. She put her finger to her lips to sign quiet and held out her arm to keep her friend back. When Jane rounded the corner into the living room, she saw a shorter male frantically scrambling around the floor trying to pick up fallen items and place them back on the small coffee table. His back was to the two women in the doorway and his clothing was covered in soot.

"Peter," Jane scolded.

"Mrs. Lupin," Peter squeaked, jumping up from the floor and bashing his knee on the coffee table causing the knick-knacks to chatter.

"What are you doing here? Remus isn't expecting you until later this evening."

"W-what! But Sirius said..."

"Of course it had to do with that boy. Peter, honey, you can't go listening to Sirius every time he tells you to do something. You should have checked with Remus before you arrived because this is a muggle neighbourhood and they are not used to people just appearing out of fireplaces. What if I had someone over?"

Nancy softly cleared her throat. Peter's attention was suddenly averted to the woman about the same age as Mrs. Lupin. He noticed blonde hair and green eyes. She wasn't wearing any kind of wizard robes or attire, but she was wearing an amused smile on her lips.

Peter continued to stare wide-eyed the woman who did not appear to be magical standing so calmly behind his friend's mother. "Oh Merlin! I'm going to be kicked out of Hogwarts and sent to Azkaban for performing magic in front of a muggle!"

"Talking about magic isn't helping your case either," Jane explained with a roll of her eyes. "Now tell me what you are really doing here before I call your parents."

"Well...I...was just...er...you see...the thing is..."

"MUM!" Two voices yelled from the other end of the hall. The deeper voice sounded as though it was mocking the higher more irate voice.

The honey-brunette with her wand drawn, the sandy blonde her arms crossed, and the plump mousy brown haired teenager all looked in the direction of the voices. Soon they all saw the mess that emerged from the hall.

Remus had streaks and splatters of paint all over his person. His worn shirt resembled a primary school art project with hand prints smeared on the front and back. His face was spackled with brown and red almost making him look like he had Dragon Pox. However, he was nothing compared to the usually blemish free girl behind him.

Becky was drenched from head to toe with an array of different colours of paint. Her hair was matted with reds, and yellows, and greens. Her face looked as if it had a Picasso masterpiece gone horribly wrong. And her clothes were drenched in so many colours they had blended together and looked it was as if she had rolled in the mud.

"Mum! Look what he did," Becky seethed to her mother looking down at her paint soaked shirt. "He knocked me down and threw all of my paint at me!"

"Hey you splattered me first," Remus argued.

Becky turned. "It was an accident, you toe-rag!"

"Language," Nancy scolded.

"It definitely was not an accident," Remus countered speaking over top of Nancy and Jane's pleas for the two teens to stop bickering. "You said you were going to and you did. It was premeditated."

"If you weren't being so impatient and mocking me I wouldn't have pointed the brush at you."

"You didn't point the brush you flicked it in my direction. You got me first!"

"You didn't have to tackle me down to the ground."

"You know you loved it," Remus punctuated with a smirk reaching out and running a hand down Becky's crossed arms.

Becky slowly stepped closer to Remus. She was face to face with him with her body mere centimetres away from Remus'. She reached around Remus as he sucked in a ragged breath from their close proximity and grabbed the wand from his back pocket.

In one fluid movement, the wand was pointed directly at Remus' chest.

"You can't use that," Remus replied wide eyed.

"Just you wait Remus Lupin. I may not be able to use this today, tomorrow, or the next day, but I will get my revenge on you. Mark my words, I will get you back," Becky replied with a mischievous smile, flicking her paint laden hair over her shoulder causing her to look to the side. Her eyes caught a dishevelled looking boy about her age near the fireplace.

Remus noticed her pause and took the momentary suspension to take back his wand. He would have given out a triumphant exclamation but his eyes just happen to follow the line of sight to his friend, who was still frozen in her spot.

"Peter," Remus gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Peter didn't answer. He merely continued to stare at his friend and the girl behind him. Never in his six years of knowing Remus had Peter ever seen his friend in such a state of disarray. Normally, the young werewolf was the most put together out of all of them. He had also never heard his friend so openly flirt with a girl before, it almost sounded as if he were Sirius or James. Where had this Remus been for the past six years?

Snapping out of his thoughts, Peter replied. "I was told to come get you. Sirius and James said I had to do it before dinner."

"Of course they did," Remus muttered hardly noticing someone brush past him.

"Hi, I'm Becky, Remus' next door neighbour. You must be Peter Pettigrew," Becky offered her hand, but when Peter didn't take it she just sighed. "I apologize for my appearance. It's all his fault," Becky said pointing back to a gobsmacked Remus.

Remus grabbed her extended finger and pulled her back covering her mouth with his hand. The paint laden girl struggled to gain her freedom.

Remus quickly let go when he saw the shocked look on his school friend's face. "I should go," Peter stated as he backed up to the fireplace. "Meet us at James' house then. Potter Manor!"

Without a second glace the green flames engulfed the mousey teen as soon as the trigger phrase was uttered. With the shortest Marauder gone, Remus announced he was going upstairs to clean up before dinner.

Jane, Nancy, and Becky all shared the same confused expressions. "What was that all about," Nancy asked.

"Maybe that wasn't the best first impression," Becky laughed. Her mother and Jane quickly joined in.

"Well, I can't say I would blame the poor boy," Jane said sobering up from her fit of giggles. She turned to Becky and pointed her wand at the girl's clothing. "Now let's get you cleaned up before dinner."

* * *

**A/N: Hi everyone! I appologize for the long wait for this chapter. I really don't have any excuses for not getting this out. The orignial version just didn't seem quite right. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed or sent me a PM so far. I appreciate all of the support you have all given me so far.**

**One of my supporters has been sending me reviews regarding Becky being a witch or a muggle. Up to this point and after this chapter especially, what are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think Becky is a Witch or a Muggle? and Why? I am curious to know your thoughts so send me a review or PM.**

**Thanks again for reading!**

**Always,**

**orangezauber**


	8. Chapter 8: Banter and Insults

Chapter 8: Banter and Insults

* * *

***Summer after Remus' 2nd year***

Thirteen year old Remus couldn't take it any longer. He hated being in bed for days after each full moon. The body aches were gone, but the pale sickly completion remained.

Getting out of bed, Remus stumbled over his feet which seemed to have forgotten how to maintain balance on two points of contact. His feet wobbled as they got used to their human form once again.

As Remus was flexing his feet in preparation to go downstairs for something to eat, a squeal could be heard from his bedroom door. Within seconds, he was nearly pushed back into the wall by a head of brunette hair.

"Dieu Merci!" Becky exclaimed as she hugged her friend tightly. "Votre maman m'a dit que tu étais malade! Je m'ennuyais tellement de moi-même."

"You're welcome," Remus questioned at the fast pace of the foreign language.

Becky usually broke into French when she was worried about something. It was usually from the time she spent with her grandmother, who would also begin spouting out French when she as nervous. Becky's French used to be more sporadic with a cross between English and French. Now that she was back from her first year at her school in France, she often slipped into her second language more frequently.

"You look horrible," Becky said while laughing at her friend's guessed translation.

"Thanks," Remus replied sarcastically as he pushed away from Becky. "So what were you trying to say to me?"

"Only that your sickness caused me multiple days of boredom," Becky said as she smiled at her friend. She really had missed him while he was bed ridden. "Your mum said for me to come up here to get you for lunch and to see how you were doing."

"And asking how I was feeling was too much strain," Remus questioned following Becky downstairs and into the kitchen.

Remus wrinkled his nose briefly as the strong scent of food accosted his nose. It wasn't a bad smell, he was just shocked by the intensity and variety of smells in the kitchen. He knew he would habituate to it soon.

"At least I was being honest," Becky replied with her eyes down, missing Remus' reaction to the kitchen.

When Remus looked back to his friend he noticed a down trodden expression on her face. A face that made Remus realized he needed to apologize for snapping at her. After all, she didn't know why his sickness often put him in such a fowl mood.

"It's okay. You're sick you don't have to be sorry. Plus if it makes you feel any better I like the pale look on you. It makes you very handsome."

Remus stared at Becky in shock. He nearly walked into the counter as he could feel the heat rising in his face as a blush formed on his cheeks. It was one thing for Remus to say something like that to Becky, he had his dorm-mates corrupting his mind, but he wasn't used to Becky saying something like that to him.

"There we go," Becky said with amusement at the sight of Remus' redden face. "The older girls in my dorm house always say things like that. They are constantly talking about boys. I just thought if I said something they did it might bring some colour to those pale cheeks of yours."

"Your school like to embarrass boys," Remus questioned, his face still pink.

"I guess," Becky said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I find most of the boys at school to be dull. I want to go to your school. Your school sounds like a lot more fun than mine."

"I don't know if I would call it fun," Remus mumbled. "The people I share a room with are pretty annoying. They are constantly asking me questions and always wanting to know the latest gossip."

"That sounds a lot like my roommate. Except for the whole asking me questions part..." Becky looked up in thought. Remus could see a hint of sadness in her eyes as she thought about school. "She tends to ignore me because I am not of '_pure French linage._' She does gossip a lot though. Maybe I could go to school with you. Then neither one of us would have to worry about the people we live with."

"I think I would rather my roommates ignore me," Remus said. He only wanted his roommates to ignore him because he thought he would feel better if they ever did find out his dark secret. He didn't want to get close to them to only have them grow to fear him or resent him.

"I rather have someone to talk to," Becky sighed as she took a seat at the kitchen table. "I don't understand why mum wanted me to go to France instead of here."

"Let's make a deal for this next school year. I will try to make an effort with my dorm-mates, if you try to make at least one friend other than me," Remus said sitting across the table from his friend. Then he added, "If I can stand you then I am sure you can find someone at that school of yours who can stand you."

Becky agreed to the deal burst out laughing. Without hesitation, Remus joined in the laughter. They always seemed to know how to cheer the other one up, even if it was to playfully insult one another.

* * *

***James' House, Summer after Remus' 6th Year***

The marauders were lounging in James' house as per marauder tradition during days surrounding the full moon. As usual Remus had arrived with some reluctance, but he quickly fell back into the furrow with his friends. It always took him a while to do so after he left home knowing he wouldn't be able to see Becky for a couple of weeks.

"Now tell us again why you only come to visit during the summer when it is a full moon," James asked taking another liquorish wand from the centre table.

"I don't always..." Remus began without looking up from his book. He tried to ignore his friends whenever they commented about the full moon.

"You are honestly denying this," James exclaimed startling Remus from his book and Peter from his perch on the couch. James continued without paying attention to the crash of his small friend. "We know the moon chart as well as you, mate, and you only visit during the phase of the full moon. I feel so used."

Remus shook his head knowing James was just trying to get a rise out of him. "Fine, I'll find somewhere else to go. You three will just have to wait to change until we get back to Hogwarts."

"You wouldn't dare," Sirius said as he ended his laughing fit when Peter fell to join in on the conversation. "Mum and Dad Potter set this up specifically to keep you safe during your transformations. It would be ungrateful of you to go elsewhere."

"I don't want to talk about the full moon so I'll just go home then. My mum set up the basement for my transformations long before I met any of you." Remus closed his book and began to rise from his chair. He was trying to hide his smile as he made his way to the fireplace.

"But you won't go home to do that," Peter chimed in. "You won't go because of that girl, Becky."

Remus stopped in his tracks. He hoped Peter wouldn't continue because it would only rile Sirius and James up more to hear about Becky. After all they had been following Remus around since the beginning of break.

However, Remus' hopes were dashed when Peter did, in fact, continue talking about the brunette girl on the muggle side of town.

"The girl you write the letters to, she's the one covered in paint, right?"

Remus nearly groaned.

"Hold on! What's this about a girl covered in paint?" Sirius nearly jumped out of his seat looking for answers like he always did when he heard a piece of gossip regarding the mystery girl.

"You met the mystery letter girl! Is she attractive?"

"Shove off, Sirius," Remus said before Sirius could ask any more questions regarding his best friend from childhood.

"Yeah, Sirius, don't ask questions like that," James stated earning a nod of approval from Remus. Then James added, "Is she good-looking?"

"That's the same question," Remus murmured rolling his eyes knowing his friends would continue their conversation regardless of his protests.

"I couldn't tell," Peter answered, "She was covered in paint."

"Why would she be covered in paint," James asked looking between Peter and Remus, who still had his back to his friends.

"Remus tackled her..."

"WHAT!" James and Sirius shouted simultaneously.

"Well, I didn't actually see it happen," Peter said looking nervous about the two eager faces that crowed his personal space. "But she said he did and the way they were arguing both covered in paint and how he reached out and touched her arm I thought there was something..."

"Pete! Stop rambling, you're making me sound as if this was my fault," Remus said with a slight blush to his cheeks. He turned to his other two friends who were grinning wide eyed in his direction.

"You tackled a girl," Sirius questioned without removing the grin from his face. "I never thought you had it in you, mate."

"It's not like that," Remus exclaimed. "I was...well, she was painting...we...we were just out in the back..."

"Naked," Sirius inquired nonchalantly.

"What! No! We were fully clothed. I was bored and she trying to paint a portrait of me," Remus quickly replied. "She was talking about how I had to stay still and I just..."

"Yes," James eagerly butted in.

"Merlin, this isn't helping my case at all," Remus deflated. "I'm just going to go over here before I cast myself into a deeper spell."

Soon the remaining three boys were arguing amongst themselves about what the 'mystery girl' looked like, what she sounded like, how old she might be. Remus tuned them out as he pulled out some parchment and a quill from his bag behind the couch.

Remus began to write.

_Becky,_

_ They have been irritating me about you for the past week. Peter just let it slip he met you. Now they are trying to decide how attractive you are based on how well you wore the paint. Perhaps if they stopped bothering me I might actually let them meet you...no this does not mean I actually will allow that. I want you all to myself. If James or Sirius ever got to you you would never want to spend any more time with me..._

"Dearest mystery girl Becky (Stop) My friend Sirius is exceedingly attractive (Stop) I am so jealous because I am just a wolf in Remus clothing (Stop) Hugs and kisses (Stop) Remmy," Sirius dictated as he leaned over the back of the couch.

"This is not a muggle telegram, Sirius. You don't have to indicate the end of a sentence by saying 'stop.' And I do _not _sign my name like that," Remus signed covering up his letter. Now that Sirius was staring over his shoulder, Remus wished he would have begun writing the letter in French. Of course, his French was pretty bad when he tried to speak it or especially write it. Becky would usually make fun of him for a few minutes before she would help him correct his errors.

"Right, you could have had me fooled," Sirius rambled. "I know you talk about me in those letters. I have read enough of hers to know that."

"I only talk about you because you bother me and I need someone to rant to."

"Rant to James."

"He would tell you what I said."

"I would not," James interjected. However, looking at Remus' expression he corrected. "Okay, maybe I would."

"Rant to Peter then."

"Peter wouldn't be able to keep a secret either."

"Hey," Peter cried. "I haven't told anyone about you being a werewolf."

Remus gritted his teeth. He didn't want to be reminded about the approach of the full moon. It was bad enough having to actually life through it; he didn't want to have to think about it in his spare time.

"Come on, I want to get some time in playing Quidditch before the moon rises," James announced. "I bet I can beat all of you slobs without breaking a sweat."

"I'll take that challenge," Sirius announced. "Let's go prove Prongs wrong my fellow Marauding gentlemen!"

"I'll be there in a minute," Remus said, watching his friends rush down the hallway to grab their Quidditch gear. He knew they were trying to distract him from what was to come once night fall hit.

His friends always tried to distract him or cheer him up with playful banter...'just like someone else,' Remus thought before he went back to finish his letter.

...

_ Sirius wanted to write something, about his attractiveness. You would think with the way he acts no girl would ever want to come near him with a 3 metre wand. Good thing he swore of girls I suppose._

_ Anyway, I want to let you know I might not be responding to letters for the next couple of days. We have some stuff that may take up the majority of our time. I promise to write before I come home. Don't miss me too much!_

_Tu manque,_

_ Remus Lupin_

* * *

**A/N: Hello again everyone! **

**First of all I am sorry for any typos (in English or French) in this chapter. I used Google translate for this chapter. letter. All French after this chapter should be the correct translation (I will not longer be using Google translate due to asking a friend to translate for me). In the flashback, Becky was pretty much saying how worried she was about Remus.**

**I also wanted to say thank you to all of you who reviewed/followed/favorited my last chapter. I didn't expect so many people to reply to my witch/muggle question. It actually turns out half of the reviews said she was a witch and the other half said she was a muggle.**

**If you have any questions or comments or if you just want to write a note to tell me what you think about the story so far, feel free to do so. Your reviews and comments actually gives me inspiration for scenes. Thanks again for all of your support.**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	9. Chapter 9: Her Father's Paintings

Chapter 9: Her Father's Paintings

* * *

*****Becky age 3*****

"Well, good evening, baby girl. Didn't I just put you to bed?"

"No," a three year old Becky giggled clad in her flannel nightgown.

"No," Laurent Fourneir questioned with a smile pulling at his lips as he looked down at his small little girl before him. "Then why did I go into your bedroom if it wasn't time for sleep?"

Becky gave a shrug before beginning to skip about the room.

Laurent watched his daughter for a few seconds before removing himself from in front of his easel. He took a couple of steps towards Becky, but she easily dodged his advances giggling while she did. A couple more grabs were made for the small girl without much success. She ducked behind the large canvas causing it to wobble as she passed. The shaking of the canvas caused many of the brushes and other supplies to fall to the ground.

"Rebecca," Laurent said sternly looking at the small brunette looking at him from behind his easel with a sheepish look on her face. A face Laurent could never seem to get mad at.

He picked up the paints and brushes. And lastly he picked up an elegant handle with intricate carvings all along the body. A brush head attachment lay a few inches away from the handle. The head did not look like it belonged to the beautifully carved body, but it always seemed to fit regardless.

"Now, enough games, baby girl. Time for bed," the brunette haired man said opening his arms for the girl.

Becky gave a diminutive disappointed whimper, but complied with her father's request. She walked into her father's loving arms and allowed him to carry her to her bedroom for the second time that night.

The room had light purple wall that created a warm atmosphere fit for a young child. Drawings lined the walls, some scribbles, others were pictures of ball and stick figures acting as happy families. Always a mother, father, and small girl to represent the close knit family Becky had.

Only one painting stood out as a painting creating by a mature hand. It was a picture of him; only him. Laurent had tried to paint either Becky or her mother in the frame with him, but Becky insisted she wanted a portrait of just him. Laurent had painted a portrait of Becky a year ago and Becky insisted she had a picture of her 'papa' in her room just like he had a portrait of her in his office.

Laurent placed his child on her small bed below the smile of his own face. He folded the covers over her petite frame while proceeding to push the covers in tight around her. Before leaving, he gently caressed Becky's face with his large hand and whispered a soft goodnight in her ear.

In the distance there was a howl. Becky immediately let out a frightened shriek, wrapping her tiny arms around her father's neck.

"Oh, baby girl," Laurent cooed in Becky's hair. "Is this why you did not want to sleep?"

Becky nodded her head trying to cuddle even further into her father's embrace as she heard another howl.

"Not to worry. Those big bad wolves can't get in here. They can huff and puff all they want, but they will not get my little girl. I will protect you will all the magic a daddy has."

Not wanting to disturb the young child in his arms, Laurent laid down in the bed with her. He rocked her until she stopped shivering from fright and fell asleep.

"Lori," Nancy said as she entered her daughter's room. She wore an urgent expression. "You've been called out. They said the people might not make it to the hospital."

Laurent quickly gave his daughter a kiss. Then he rushed out the door closely followed by his wife.

* * *

*****Current time: Becky, summer Remus' 6th year*****

Becky sighed. It had been a very long and boring week without Remus at her side and there was one more week to go before Remus returned home. This happened a couple of times each summer. Becky's childhood friend would leave to spend some time with his other friends. Of course, he would come back with hilarious stories about the trouble the four of them got into. Becky couldn't help but be jealous of the friendships Remus had made at his school. She wanted something like that.

However, every time Remus came home from being with his friends he would always be tired and weary from his visit. He always claimed it was from staying up late and wandering around at night doing things they should not have been doing. He would never tell her exactly what; always expressing she wouldn't want to know or what goes on in James' house, stays in James' house.

She never felt as though Remus was being completely truthful about his visits to his friends. There was always something off, but she never wanted to press the matter because it always led to an argument.

She felt isolated from Remus whenever he would come home. She tried to comfort him when he was sick as they grew up, but it never seemed to be enough. Her feelings of isolation grew so she turned to her art to keep her in touch with what she believed was missing.

When she was younger, around the time she met Remus, Becky could remember her father teaching her about the different mediums a person could use on a canvas. Charcoal, oil paint, water colour, graphite...but Becky's favourite was ink. She had learned long ago about the pressure of her strokes while using old fashioned quills with large feathers and inkwell pens she had discovered in her father's office.

She would spend hours sitting in her father's lap as he showed her the proper techniques to get the lines you wanted in order to create a simplistic yet graceful works of art. The tilt of the instrument being used changed the appearance of the lines which always fascinated the young girl.

However, these memories were short lived. She only really remembered a year clearly with her father and his teachings before he was struck down in his prime. Becky had only been four, and too young to remember much of anything before that age, when her mother had said that her father would not be coming home. Her mom had gone on to explain that he had been called out in the middle of the night for work and got caught up in some kind of brutal assault. He died before he could even make it to the hospital. Which Becky always thought was ironic because he worked in the medical field.

Since that day, it had only been her and her mum. They had an unspoken agreement to keep at least one room of the house dedicated to her father, a room that would forever be set up as if he had never left with his paintings on the walls. Even the desk would be kept exactly as it was left.

Becky walked into her father's office slash studio and opened the desk drawer using a bit of effort. It was usually stuck, but it had gotten easier to open over the years from Becky visiting it from time to time.

Once the drawer shuttered open Becky glanced over the contents. Everything was still arranged in an organized clutter they way it had been when her father was still alive. Becky's fingers danced over the art supplies, rolling each piece back and forth across the bottom of the box. Every single brush was clean of paint. Her father took great pride in maintaining the quality of each one of his instruments. Becky's father, Laurent, always said to take care of the objects that help you succeed in your masterpieces, for without them there would be no master only a piece.

Becky picked up one particular wooden handle. Her father told her this was his most prized tool. It was meant for him and it truly was beautiful in its prime. The years of disuse had created almost an ashen appearance. Along with caring for all his instruments, Laurent took especially good keeping of this one. It wasn't until years later that Becky's mum had explained why it was so important to her father. Not long after, Becky herself had found a tool she prized above all the others.

Before closing the draw, Becky reached all the way into the back and drew out a small box which had _Everlast_ scrawled across the top. She slid the cover off and removed the blackened object. Charcoal, not the best artistic medium, but it reflected the dark shadows that followed Becky when she missed her friend.

"In here again?"

Becky jumped at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Jeeze, mum. Frighten me to death why don't you."

Nancy smiled walking further into the room. "You're missing him again aren't you?"

"It's difficult not to," Becky said catching the double meaning of him. "Drawing is all I seem to have recently. Remus is often distant and then he goes off with his friends for weeks at a time. At school it seems the only class I excel in is 'Artistic Interpretations' which always reminds me of dad."

"Your father would be very pleased to hear you say that. He was disappointed he never went further with his art he was very talented."

Nancy stood by her daughter leaning her head on Becky's shoulder. They both looked at the painting of a small girl with brunette hair laughing at something out of the frame. "I feel lonely too especially when you are at school. I sometimes come in here and admire this painting he did of you. It makes me feel closer to you both."

"Mum—"

"He would be so proud of what you have accomplished...of who you have become, Becky."

Becky let out a sniffle, "Thanks mum. I just wish I could remember him more."

"Me too. But he wouldn't want us living in the past. He was all about people being able to live their lives to the best of their abilities. We must take our talents and gifts and advocate for life," Nancy announced passionately causing Becky chuckled at that sounded like something her dad would say.

"And by moving on with our lives we must not dwell on the past," Nancy continued. "Move on...meet knew people...go on dates with childhood friends."

Becky nearly choked. She knew her moment with memory lane had come to an abrupt end.

"Excuse me?"

"Er...listen Becca..." Becky knew her mother was about to tell her something she wouldn't necessarily approve of because her mum never called her Becca unless for that reason. "I recently was reacquainted with a friend of mine from primary school. He and I were the best of friends until we went off to different secondary schools. Then I studied abroad in France and met your father and we lost track, but now..."

"You met up again after all these years," Becky eyed her mother incredulously. She knew this was going to happen. Her mother couldn't stay just her mother forever. But it was curious as to why now her mother decided to begin dating again. Nancy always said she wouldn't date unless she knew Becky was taken care of.

However, Becky did want her mother to be happen. And regardless of 'being taken care of,' Becky knew her mother decided to have some happiness.

"Yes, after all these years," Nancy gave her daughter a guilty look.

"Thanks for ruining the perfect mother-daughter bonding moment, mum," came the sarcastic reply.

"I know this is sudden and may be upsetting to you, but your father would never have wanted us to live our lives like two old bitties."

"I resent that remark," Becky laughed at her mother's previous remark. No, Becky decided she couldn't ruin her mother's happiness because she still missed the idea of her mother and father still being together forever.

She turned to look at her mother. Similar green eyes stared back at her pleadingly. It had just been her and her mum since Becky was four. For twelve years it had been the two of them and together they had faced the hardship of losing a loved one. But Becky couldn't help but think about when she went to school. Her mum was left alone for months at a time.

"It's okay, mum. Go out. Have fun. Dad would have wanted it."

"Thanks, baby girl," Nancy replied with a wide smile, hugging her daughter tightly.

Becky watching her mother retreat out of the office after the embrace had ended. Becky couldn't help but smile at her mother calling her by the nickname her father had used so many years ago. The words 'baby girl' always rang through her mind when ever thought of her father surfaced inside her mind.

After a couple more minutes of internal reminiscing, Becky tightened her hold on her '_Everlast' _charcoal and left the office. She followed the hallway back to her bedroom where she could complete her drawing. A drawing of her father looking out a window at the full moon in the distance.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for all of your reviews, favourites, and follows. It is extremely satisfied to know all of you are enjoying the story.**

**I hope none of you minded the lack of Remus in this chapter. There will be no Becky in next chapter. It will be another two or three chapters before they come into contact again.**

**Point of interest from the last chapter...It was brought to my attention that my French grammar was incorrect. I do not speak French therefore Google translate helped me out. A fantastic fan has stepped forward to help me with future translations. Anyway, in case you're interested in what Becky said in French last chapter, she basically said her mother told her Remus was sick and that she was bored.**

**Let me know how I am doing so far with the story! I love the feedback :-)**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	10. Chapter 10: Painful Transformations

**Chapter 10: Painful Transformations**

**Warning: Some parts are a little graphic**

* * *

***At Hogwarts, The Maruader's 5th Year***

White noise seemed to be going through Remus' head. He was just waking up from another transformation. However, this one seemed to be different, but he couldn't quite recall why things seemed to be different with the information in his head still jumbled.

Lying down on the lumpy bed, Remus carefully tried to adjust his body to prevent the spring coils from irritating his skin more while his sensation came back. His skin felt like it was on hyper alert like when someone touches you with ice. First it is all pins and needles then it starts to numb after a few minutes. Remus was waiting for the numbness to take over so he could finally allow his body to sleep.

After he got as comfortable as he was going to get, Remus tried to will his body to relax into the numbness he wanted without opening his eyes. He did not want to see the damage that he caused on his own body quite yet.

As Remus became acclimated to the feelings and sensations of his normal body once again he began to hear garbled sounds from a distance. His weak muscles prevented him from doing anything until the sounds became clearer and Remus recognized them as voices.

After 5 years of spending time with the voices, whether he wanted to or not, he was worried to hear the voices of his three male best friends. Didn't they know how dangerous he was?

"Should we get him to the hospital wing," Sirius questioned as he looked over at his friend's still shaking body.

"No, we can't do that," James reasoned. "Madam Pomfrey comes in to take him back to school usually an hour after dawn."

"What time is it now," Peter asked. He was also shaking from the night before. He had never been so terrified in his entire life, but he knew not to voice his concerns to his friends. At least not until one of the other two mentioned it first.

James pulled out a small enchanted wristwatch out of his pocket. "About 15 passed five in the morning. Which means we should be getting out of here soon or else we have to face a lot of questions from Poppy. And I for one do not feel like explaining how we knew about the entrance to the shrieking shack."

"Good idea," Sirius agreed. "We'll talk to Remus when he is ready. I'm just glad we were able to be here for him. Although he does pack a punch with those claws of his."

The three boys laughed quietly as they left the room where their friend was trying to sleep.

Remus could hear his friends footsteps fade into the distance. Had his friends been with him all night? How were they not hurt? However, Remus didn't get much time to think about it because his body had finally calmed enough to allow him to sleep.

When Remus woke up he felt crisp coverings. Even what he was laying on felt crisp under his touch. Slowly his sense of smell returned and the sterile odours of the room accosted his senses. Soon the smells became so overwhelming Remus sneezed causing a shot of pain to ricochet throughout his body.

"Good morning, dear," a shrill sounding voice said to his left.

Remus buried his head further into his coverings in order to block out the sound.

"Oh, sorry, Remus dear," the woman's voice softened to a low whisper. "I forgot your hearing hasn't gone back to normal quite yet. How are you feeling?"

Remus groaned. As soon as he did he heard a muffled laugh. It was too soft for the matron to hear. Remus knew exactly who the laugh belonged to and he groaned again.

"Not to worry, you'll be right as rain in a couple of days," Madam Pomfrey soothed handing the young werewolf a goblet of steaming liquid. "Now, drink up, my boy. Drink up."

Remus finally opened his eyes only to flinch back at the reflection of all the white in the hospital wing. He took the goblet out of the matron's awaiting hands and stared down into the liquid. With a sigh, Remus consumed the drink. He sputtered as the drink flowed down his throat.

Madam Pomfrey gave a curt satisfied nod. She snatched the goblet out of Remus' hands as soon as it left his lips.

"What the hell were you guys thinking this morning," Remus hissed as soon as he heard the click of the door to Madam Pomfrey's office. "How many times have I told you not to come looking for me the morning after. I could have still been dangerous."

"We knew what we were doing," Sirius replied sliding the flowing cloak from his head revealing himself as well as James and Peter. "We didn't change back until after you were human again."

"What did you three do," Remus growled attempting to prop himself on his elbows.

James, trying to act like the diplomat, explained, "Well, you told us _humans_ can get hurt from a werewolf bite. Keep in mind, Remus, we wanted to help you through this. We wanted to make sure you wouldn't suffer anymore than you had to and you might need some company."

Again Remus growled out, "What the hell did you three do?"

"We've been researching for the past few years and we finally figured out a way to help you," James continued. "It doesn't help with the transformation part of it, but it does seem to help you...er...not be as animalistic when in werewolf form. What I'm trying to say is we're—"

"Animagi," Sirius interrupted.

"YOU'RE WHAT," Remus burst. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE—"

Sirius quickly covered Remus' mouth. "Shut up, mate. Do you want the whole school to know we are now illegal animagi? Do you know how much trouble we could get into?"

"What's going on out there," Madam Pomfrey yelled from her office.

Sirius saw the door to the office open and he threw the cloak over himself and James, who was the closest to him. He muttered a 'sorry' to Peter before retreating into the shadows for extra concealment with James.

"Mr. Pettigrew. I do not tolerate yelling in my hospital," the matron scolded when whe approached the bed. She did not see the other two visitors how were there just moments before.

Peter looked around wildly before replying. "But, I...they were...it was...sorry."

Madam Pomfrey eyed the young man with a scrutinizing glance. "Why are you here so early Mr. Pettigrew? Surely it is not to yell and patronize my patients."

"I was just visiting, Remus, ma'am," Peter hastily explained. He looked at Remus for confirmation, but all he got was an eye roll.

"Visiting hours are not until breakfast. You would do well to leave right now."

"Y-yes, ma'am," Peter stuttered. "See you later, Remus."

Remus gave Peter a nod while watching the smaller boy scurry from the hospital wing. He noticed as Peter held the door open for a few seconds before slipping out himself.

"Those friends of yours, Mr. Lupin, will be the death of me," Madam Pomfrey decided. "Now get some sleep, dear, the potion can only do so much."

* * *

***James' House, Current Summer***

He could feel it coming on; the ripple of energy throughout his body. It wasn't the kind of energy that makes you feel powerful. It was more like an earthquake; the soft rolling of the surroundings before the destruction began. First one would feel the shaking, then the dams beneath your pores break with sweat. Remus had gotten used to that feeling. The anticipation was often the most difficult thing to deal with when undergoing a transformation.

"Shit," he heard James swear.

James looked over at his friend who was nearly convulsing on the ground. "I didn't realized how late it was."

The sun had set, but the enchanted lights surrounding the Potter's orchard/makeshift Quidditch field had led the boys to forget it was dark outside the enchantments.

"We can just stay outside," Sirius shrugged. "We can keep him from doing much harm."

"No," Remus gasped, his tremors getting worse. He couldn't say anything else so he just reverberate the word 'no' over and over as his body shook.

"There are too many people outside tonight," James hurriedly explained. "We have to get him inside or he might hurt someone. People tend to say outside longer during the warmer weather regardless of sun."

Sirius gave James a slightly disappointed look before grabbing Remus' left arm and helped James heave Remus to his feet. Peter rushed ahead to open the back door to the Potter mansion.

Suddenly, Remus went completely deadweight. His muscles were already tired from their seizing. James and Sirius stumbled when Remus we flaccid. All of them falling to the ground.

"C'mon, Wormtail. Don't just stand there with the door, help," Sirius demanded as he strained to get his friend back to his feet.

Peter rushed over to assist the trio back into a standing position.

Remus began to seize again, but was able to gain control of his facial muscles to instruct his friends to hurry.

Finally, all four of them made it down into the Potter's basement. Sirius and Peter set Remus down by the far while James locked the multiple dead bolts on the door.

"I can't magically seal us in," James explained when he had finished locking them in for the night. "Remus is the only one of us who is seventeen already."

"What are we going to do then," Peter panicked.

Sirius shook his head not taking his eyes away from Remus. "We're just going to have to be extra careful and keep him extremely distracted tonight."

The other two nodded in agreement.

Remus sat on the dirt floor of the basement, with his back to the cold cement wall as he listened to his friends discuss how to keep him distracted. His breathing had become laboured as his body prepared for the change yet to come.

"Well, gentlemen, I do believe it's time," Remus thought he heard Sirius explain, but he was too distracted by the next part of the transformation.

Suddenly, a stab of pain shot through his chest. Simultaneously, a starburst of white exploded behind his eyes causing him to lurch forward. After a few dizzying seconds, the pain receded and the temporary blindness dissipated. Remus remained on his hands and knees as he waited for the next shock to his systems. Soon the shock would happen with every heart beat as his heart prepared itself for the change. Blood pounded throughout his body, providing oxygen to the muscles of the body.

With the extra flow of blood Remus' muscles began to elongate. For anyone in close proximity they would hear the tearing of the muscle fibres. Remus screamed out in pain. His breath becoming even shallower than it had been previously.

The bundles of muscle fibres felt like they were being teased out with white hot combs, as stronger, more elongated canine muscles began to grow in the new gaps provided.

His bones could not withstand the pressure from the growth of the muscles. The bones twisted, obliquely fracturing or even crushing the dense, calcified skeletal structure. Each snap and twist caused a new wave of pain to shoot through system of nerves that electrified the entire body. Remus let out a cry of pain.

Cartilage in his nasal cavity also snapped as a snout began to elongate. The strain of the facial changes always caused Remus' voice box to be crushed. His screams would go from humanistic yells to animalistic howls.

Under normal circumstances, the human body would not be able to withstand such fast paced changes. Had Remus not had the werewolf gene mutation in his DNA structure, he would have surely died long ago.

During the final stages of the transformation, Remus' eyes and skin felt like white hot needles were pressing from the inside out. He could feel each hair pushing its way though his thickened skin.

Whimpering in discomfort the young werewolf began to scratch at his body trying to rid itself from the pain of the new hair growth. Before much damage could be done, the wolf was tackled to the ground by a pair of hooves. The newly transformed werewolf snapped at its capture, but whimpered in pain as its jaw clamped together. Waves of pain shot through the jaws and of the beast confined to the ground from the flesh still moulding to the sharpened canines.

The immense stag slowly backed off when its friend recoiled in pain. He backed up to the wall were a black dog and a watery eyed rat watched the wolf shake and shiver.

Over the first hour, the three animals monitored the werewolf's actions. If there was any sign of scratching or self-mutilation the creatures would intervene by pushing the wolf to the ground. They were careful to avoid any scratches or bites themselves when helping out their friend as Remus got use to his new body structure.

As the night wore on, Remus' wolf body became more acclimated to the changes. The pain had dissipated and the need to itch and scratch disappeared as well. Werewolf Remus looked up at his three friends sitting patiently in the corner. The sense of familiarity of the stag, dog, and rat caused the werewolf to hobble over to where the three waited.

Sirius stood from his position on the floor. He cocked his head to the side as he watched the wolf approach. When the wolf let out a whine in greeting, Sirius bent his paw forward with his back end up in the air, tail wagging, as a sign of play. Launching, himself at the werewolf Sirius and Remus engaged in a type of rough and tumble play one might witness two dogs doing in the park.

Grunts could be heard from James direction as he attempted to laugh at the antics of his friends. He felt a slight pressure scurrying up his back and into his antlers. Breathy squeaks filled the corner as Peter agreed with James' laughter.

James couldn't wait until they got back to the safety of Hogwarts where they would be able to roam the forest with their restless werewolf friend. Being cooped up in a basement wasn't the same as being able to run freely between the trees and not have to worry about locking doors.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you all liked my thoughts on how Remus' transformations might happen. I appologize if it was a bit graphic, but I never thought transforming into a werewolf would be easy.  
I might write a chapter describing what the other marauders go through when they change into their respective animials, but I am not sure yet since this is a story centered around Remus and Becky.**

**Review or PM if you have questions, comments, thoughts. Every review fantastic!**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	11. Chapter 11: Stealing Approval

Chapter 11

* * *

***Summer: Becky age 14, Remus age 15***

"What the hell are you doing rummaging inside of my closet," Becky asked when she walked into her bedroom to find Remus' backside peeking out from behind her closet door. As much as 14 year old Becky hated to admit it, she kind of liked the view. She shook her thoughts out of head as fast as they surfaced.

Without stopping his search Remus replied, "I'm looking for that jumper I was wearing a few days ago. I couldn't find it in my room."

"So you automatically assumed I was hiding it in my closet," Becky said slowly.

"Well, you take my clothing all the time."

"What does your jumper look like," Becky asked ignoring Remus' blatant, but true accusation.

"It's dark blue, with a wolf emblem on the upper left side of the front and my sur name on the back. It also has a hood attached."

"Well I don't remember seeing such a thing in my closet." A smile was creeping onto her lips when she realized what jumper Remus was looking for. '_Oops_,' she thought with a silent giggle.

She pulled at the hem of the oversized jumper she had put on that morning. It's dark blue fabric encased her petite frame like a large bag. It was soft and warm and had the comforting smell of Remus.

"I was really hoping it would be here," Remus stood from his search of the closet.

He finally looked over to his friend and his eyes widened.

"You," he growled. "You're wearing it!"

Becky gave him a mischievous smirk. "I told you it wasn't in my closet."

Remus lunged at Becky, but she was able to dodge him before he was able to get close enough to grab her.

"Now, Remus...let's talk about this like civilized people."

"And how is stealing my clothing being civilized?"

Becky squealed as Remus lunged for her once again. She thought she was once again in the clear was she bounded over her bed, but she didn't anticipate the extra fabric of the jumper being her downfall.

Remus has able to grasp the hem just as Becky jumped over the bed. He pulled his arm back towards him causing Becky to fall flat on her back on the bed.

"No, no, no, no," Becky laughed hugging herself around the middle. "You have no proof this belongs to you. What if my mum gave this to me because she knew I liked yours so much?"

Leaning down over the brunette girl, Remus sniffed the collar of the jumper. "If this is yours then why does it smell like me?"

"Because—"

"You stole it," Remus finished. He lifted his head and stared into the upside-down face of his best friend. He could see that she was trying her hardest not to smile. There was a faint blush to her cheeks as she tried to avoid Remus' eyes so he wouldn't see the mischievous yet guilty look.

Becky rolled over to her side and jumped up onto the bed. Remus jumped up onto the bed just as quickly. He backed Becky up into the wall at the head of the bed and placed his hands on either side of her head.

"Are you going to willing relinquish what you stole," Remus questioned, the smile never leaving his face. "Or am I going to have to take it by force?"

"You would never take..." Becky started but she didn't finish because Remus had grabbed the end of the jumper and began to pull it upwards.

A desperate game of tug-of-war began between the two friends. One pulling down while the other trying to pull the clothing up. Both were laughing. Remus being stronger than Becky was winning the playful game of war. Becky's undershirt was slightly rising along with the jumper.

Remus' cold hands grazed the exposed skin in his attempt to pull the fabric over his friend's head. Becky was so shocked by Remus' touch on her bare side that she squeaked and released her grasp from the jumper in an attempt to pull down her own shirt underneath allowing her friend to gain an advantage over her.

During the distraction, the jumper had moved up far enough to be able to cover Becky's eyes. Her muffled protests could not be heard by Remus as he scooped up both of her hands and pinned them above her head against the wall.

The fabric was eased over Becky's head carefully and was slowly scooted up each arm. With one last pull, Remus released the piece of clothing from his friend's hands.

Becky tried to grab the jumper back, but Remus pulled it out of her reach. He leaned in gave her a swift kiss on the cheek and whispered "good game" before jumping off the bed and pulling the jumper over his own head. Remus causally walked out of Becky's bedroom.

Becky was in too much shock to analyze what just happened. After a minute she came back to her senses and ran out of her bedroom after her best friend.

"Get back here, Lupin!"

* * *

***Current Summer: Becky's House***

"What's got you looking so excited, mum?"

Becky rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she walked into the kitchen. She saw her mother standing at the counter looking over what looked like the post. Her mum was staring at one piece in particular with a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Is that a letter from Jason already," Becky asked.

After Becky and her mother had had their heart to heart a few days ago, Nancy had since gone on a date with her childhood friend, Jason. Becky hadn't seen her mum this excited since the morning after the date.

"No, it's not from Jason," Nancy replied. Her grin got even bigger when she looked up at her daughter. "You how we talked about what to get Remus for his 18th birthday?"

Becky nodded rising her one of her eyebrows. "Yeah, but it's months away. We don't need to worry about it right now."

Remus' birthday wasn't until March so Becky was a little confused about why her mother was thinking of such things in the middle of the summer.

"Christmas is sooner than his birthday, mum," Becky reasoned with a yawn.

"Fine then. I have a great Christmas gift for him then."

"But I already have an idea for his Christmas gift. One I really think he's going to like."

"Will you stop arguing? Either way, I have a feeling he is going to like this better."

Becky scoffed shooting her mother a dirty look.

"Fine, this will just be from me. However, I do need your help," Nancy said as she handed her daughter one of the letters that had come in just before Becky walked downstairs.

Becky scanned over the flowing script. Her jaw dropped as she reread the letter with more fervour for a second time. All signs of just waking up disappeared. "You went ahead with this! I thought you were just joking when you suggested this last year."

Nancy nodded happily. "Well, the more I thought about it the more I thought it was a good idea. It's the perfect gift."

"And it got approved! This means I'm going to get—"

"Yes," Nancy exclaimed as she embraced Becky in a tight hug. "He is going to love us so much!"

"I can't believe this," Becky's grin faltered slightly when she thought up an important concern. "How am I ever going to keep this from Remus? He'll know I'm keeping something from him."

"Well, the two of you will be going back to school soon. In the mean time, We'll talk to Jane before Remus gets back from his friend's house this afternoon. She should be able to help us make any of the last minute arrangements and give us a few ideas on not giving away the surprise."

Becky nodded while her mother busied herself by cleaning up the kitchen quickly.

"What are you waiting for, Becky," Nancy questioned literally shoving her daughter out of the kitchen. "We have to talk to Jane. Get your little half French fanny up those stairs and get dressed."

Becky didn't need to be told twice. She ran up the stairs to her bedroom, stopping right in front of her door. The ink drawing of her and Remus made her smile. Her finger traced the pictures edges and Becky almost squealed in delight at the letter she was still holding.

The door was pushed open allowing Becky to skip into her room. Before she rushed over to her closet, Becky gently put the letter down on the bed and flattened it out with her hands, the smile never leaving her face. Then when she opened her closet she picked out the first two items of clothing she could grab. The light coloured trouser shorts did not seem to match the baggy T-shirt, not that Becky really cared about matching right now. Her mind was on other things and not on the current fashion trends or any trend.

Becky grabbed the letter off her bed and ran back downstairs to where her mother was waiting for her in the hall.

"Er...stylish," Nancy commented when her daughter stepped off of the last step. She tried to keep her lips pressed together to prevent any laughter at Becky's expense. "What will Jane think when she sees you dressed like that."

Nancy couldn't contain her laughter anymore when Becky turned around to find a pair of shoes in the hall closest. "Are you stealing Remus' clothing again?"

"Huh?"

"The shirt you're wearing. Didn't I give that to Remus last year when we came back from winter holiday?"

Becky finally looked down at her attire. For the first time she noticed that the T-shirt she had taken out of her closet really wasn't hers and her face began to turn pink in embarrassment. Out of all of the shirts she could have grabbed, she just happen to grab the only one of Remus' currently in her possession.

"Rebecca, is there something I should know," Nancy smirked at her the blushing brunette.

"What! No...Remus and I...we just...he pushed me into the pond before he left and he let me borrow..."

"So is that what the kids are calling it nowadays? Being pushed into ponds?"

"Mum! It's not like that!" Becky exclaimed. Her voice was getting slightly higher as her mother continued to suggest romantic relations with Remus. Becky's cheeks began to more pink the more her voice changed as well.

Nancy nodded, "I know." She knew Becky and Remus weren't doing anything. She just enjoyed watching the shades of pink swim across her daughter's youthful face. Nancy knew Becky could tell her once anything happened with Remus. Which she was convinced would happen soon.

"We will have to get everything sorted before Remus leaves for school. If not, he might get suspicious seeing us running around doing errands and not telling him what they are for."

"Just say it's for his birthday and he can mind his own business," Becky reasoned as her pink cheeks began going back to their normal colouring.

"Yes, I could do that," Nancy slowly began. "Or I can actually not be so rude to the poor boy."

Becky waved her hand in dismissal and a giant smirk on her face. "Remus loves you. He would know I put you up to saying something like that. Now come on! I didn't get dressed so we could stand in the kitchen all day."

The mother and daughter team left their house and quickly went through the gate in the backyard that lead to the Lupin's residence. They walked straight up to the back door and tried to open it without knocking. However, the door handle only jiggled slightly quickly leading the two to conclude the door was locked.

Nancy looked expectantly at her daughter, gesturing to the locked door.

Becky raised at eyebrow at her mother. "What do you expect me to do break down the door?"

"What is the point of me sending you to that fancy French school if they don't teach you things like this," Nancy questioned.

"Oh, how could I forget? My 'how to break into someone's home' lesson is right after my etiquette class."

"Remus would have been able to open the door," Nancy playfully huffed.

"Remus is also 17 and would have a key to his own house," Becky replied.

"Details, details. Don't pick on your mama," Nancy said earning herself and eye roll from her daughter.

The door suddenly opened revealing a smiling Jane Lupin.

"I thought I heard two people out here bickering," Jane said, stepping aside for Becky and Nancy to enter. "What can I do for you ladies this morning?"

Becky said nothing as she handed Jane the letter. Jane's smile widened as she read.

"This is for his birthday," Jane asked not taking her eyes off the letter. "He's going to love this."

"That's what I said," Nancy beamed. "I will go down as the greatest mother-in-law in history."

"Hold on," Becky gasped. "Who says anything about me marrying Remus..."

"We need your help trying to set up this up without Remus finding out," Nancy explained.

"Don't you think we should tell Remus he is getting married," Jane teased watching the young brunette's face get pink.

"Are you two done," Becky whispered, her face burning from embarrassment for the second time that day. She didn't understand why her mother and Jane always thought it was fun to humiliate her.

"When were you planning on letting him know about this," Jane asked changing the subject back to the original subject.

Jane handed the letter back to a still red faced Becky and sat down next to Jane on the couch.

"If we can manage it, I would suggest waiting until a few days into the start of the term. It will be difficult hiding something of this magnitude, but it will be perfect if we can pull it off."

Nancy and Becky nodded in agreement.

"Now here's what I am thinking we can do..."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reivewed! I never anticipated the transformation scene to be so well recieved. All of the feedback really made my week fantastic!**

**I know this chapter wasn't as engaging as the last chapter, but thank you for sticking with me for this long. The summer for Remus and Becky will be coming to an end soon. Not to worry, Remus will make his return in the next chapter. And I might even have Becky meet another one of the Marauders the chapter after next.**

**Let me know if there is anything you would like to see in the next few chapters or if you want me to go into detail about anything. Questions/comments are always welcome!**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	12. Chapter 12: Moments Before Leaving

**Chapter 12**

* * *

***Becky age 5, Remus age 6***

"Okay! I'm finished," the petite brunette asked holding up a drawing for her friend to see. Her pig-tails bobbed in anticipation of what he was going to say about her artwork.

Young Remus looked at the drawing with tired eyes. This was the seventh piece she had shown her friend and Remus was starting to think they were all blending together. Becky had used the same colour choice, the same line structure, the same indistinguishable facial features on what he thought might have been a family of goats.

"Honestly, Becky," Remus began. "I don't get it."

"What's not to get," Becky questioned, scrunching her nose up as she studied the drawing she held in her hand.

Becky pointed to each figure individually with her tiny finger. "That's me, those are our mummies, and that's you."

Remus tilted his head to look at the picture more closely. 'Nope,' he thought. 'I still see three and a half very happy goats.'

"Well, this one is better than the other seven," Remus commented with his brutal child-like honesty. "It's kind of ugly."

Becky huffed while gathering up all of her drawings and setting them face down on the table beside the couch. "Well, you're kind of ugly."

"That's not very nice," Remus pouted. His bottom lip jetted out, which was one of his best disappointed expressions.

Becky mimicked his face, but added a quiver to her own lip for dramatic effect. "You insulted my drawings first."

Both children sat on the floor of the living room with their arms folded across their chests. Their bottom lips were protruded while a pair of green eyes looked into a pair of light-brown eyes with golden yellow flecks around the irises.

Nancy and Jane walked into the living room to see their two children with sour looks on each of their faces. The two women glanced at each other before turning back to the two pouting kids.

"Now, what's going on in here," Nancy questioned trying as hard as she could to keep the smile off of her face when looking at the irritated faces only children could have.

Becky spoke first. Her scowl towards her friend deepening. "Remus said my artwork was ugly."

Not wanting to be left out of the conversation, Remus replied, "She called me ugly back!"

The two mothers quietly chortled with one another. The action resulting in two angry faces turning towards them.

"Remus, honey. You should apologize to Becky," Jane said as she sobered up. She stepped towards her son and crouched down so she was at his level.

"No," came the stubborn reply.

"Alright, then," Jane said. "I think it's time to get you home. You've had a long past few days and you need a nap."

"No!"

"Remus, I am going to give you to the count of three," Jane sternly replied.

No body in the room moved.

Jane sighed. "1...2...3!"

Remus quickly got up at the first sound of the word three. He rushed to the door and waited for his mother. The scowl never leaving his face.

Jane got up from her crouched position and followed Remus to the door.

"He's a little cranky still from his 'being sick' last week," Jane explained in a whisper as she passed her friend.

"That's understandable," Nancy nodded walking her friend to the door. "We'll see you tomorrow once the kids have forgotten their fight."

Both women smiled in agreement.

Once Jane and a grumpy Remus had left, Nancy looked over to her own child who was still stilling on the living room floor staring into the corner of the room where two walls meet the floor.

Nancy sat down on the couch and let her daughter lean against her legs, who was still staring at the one corner of the room. Becky would come out of her mood when she was ready and Nancy would try to comfort her until then.

* * *

***Current time, Becky's house***

"What'cha working on," Remus asked from the doorway. He was enjoying watching Becky hum and smile to herself while she was working on her latest project. The way his friend was smiling led him to believe something amazing happened recently. It sent a slight pang through his chest knowing he was not there to share in her initial elation, but he brushed it aside when Becky's attention was turned to him.

Becky jumped as soon as she saw someone standing in her doorway. She had not been expecting anyone to come up to her room. At the very least, she was hoping, of all people, Remus wouldn't have come up to her bedroom without being announced first. Usually she could hear him talking with her mother or hear him stomp up the stairs with his giant bear like steps.

She looked at the clock on her bed side table which read 4:55 in the afternoon. She had gotten back from the Lupin residence an hour before and didn't realize just how long she and her mother were discussing Remus' early birthday/Christmas gift plans with Jane.

They had made most of the arrangements. They would wait to present Remus with his gift until a couple of days into term. There was still work to be done, but in the end it would all work out.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to knock before entering someone's bedroom," Becky inquired as she quickly recovered from her initial shock. Then she covered the canvas she was working on, which was at an angle so anyone at the door couldn't see the front, with a light green sheet after her heart slowed from the small fright.

"Mum may have mentioned something about being polite and knocking at some point, but I figured that no longer applies to us," Remus explained causing Becky to roll her eyes. His grin widened after seeing Becky's reaction. "So tell me what's so secret that you can't show me what you're working on. You usually show me your work. Often to the point of being tiresome."

Becky slapped Remus' hands away as he tried lifting the sheet to catch a peak at her latest painting. She glared at her friend, but chose to ignore his 'tiresome' comment. "It's nothing you should be concerned about."

"And now because you said that..."

"Remus, no!," Becky laughed. She stepped in between her companion and the covered canvas. One of her hands went to Remus' wrist in an attempt to pull it away from the sheet while her other hand landed on his chest in an effort to push him away.

In amusement, Remus hummed. But the hum was also an attempt to hide the small intake of breath he gave off when he realized the close proximity of him and Becky.

"Well, I knew you missed me, but I didn't realize you had missed me this much," Remus joked wiggling his eyebrows in a continued attempt to hide how anxious he was about their closeness.

Becky hit her friend in the chest with her hand that was shoving him backwards.

The impact of Becky's hand caused Remus to twitch. He was still in the recuperating stage of his post-transformation. His body was still a little tender from the week before. However, it was nothing new during the summer months because usually took him longer to heal during the summer because he did not have the expertly made healing potions Madam Pomfrey usually gave him.

The negative reaction to the playful hit caused Becky to look more closely at Remus than she had when he first walked through her door. He had light purple bags under his eyes and he had about a week's worth of stubble on his face. The stubble was unusual because Becky knew Remus liked to have a 'professional' look about him. Well, as 'professional' a seventeen year old wizard could look.

Becky ran her hand up Remus' arm in order to cup his face. Her eyes softened when Remus turned away from her soft touch as if it actually pained him, which it did. Even the lightest brush of her finger tips was making the scruff on his face shift which irritated his sensitive skin. It would still be a couple of days before he would be able to shave without the feeling that the skin lining his jaw feeling as if it was being slowly striped away from the bone.

"What happened," Becky questioned as she continued to look into her best friend's face. Her hand hovered a few centimetres from Remus' face, but didn't actually touch. "Did something happen while you were at James'?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary for us," Remus replied with a soft smile trying to distract Becky from her worry. "We're men, we act like animals sometimes."

The comment caused Becky to let out an undignified snort.

"Well, you got one out of two correct," Becky mentioned, moving her hand to her mouth in an attempt to hide another snorting sound.

Remus narrowed his eyes, "I know that look. Don't say it, Bec."

He knew where the rest of the statement was going, but before he had a chance to silence the teen in front of him she took a few steps backwards as if to avoid him in case he decided to retaliate.

However, Becky couldn't resist the easy set up for her joke. "You don't need to act like an animal. We both know you already are like an animal because let's face it, you acting like a man is a ridiculous notion."

"I warned you not to say that," Remus playfully growled even though he did partially agree with her statement about him already being an animal, but he wouldn't divulge that to her at this time.

Without thinking about the pain it might cause, Remus long arms darted forward and grabbed for Becky. His hands closed in around her waist and held her squirming frame in place, but not before she had moved to a more open space in her bedroom in order to protect her painting.

The impact from Remus rushing forward as Becky brushed past him, knocked the two of them down to the ground. If Becky's mum was home she surely would have heard the crash.

Becky tried to brace herself for the fall, but Remus quickly turned them sideways so neither would be crushed by the other.

"Graceful," Becky giggled. She propped herself up on one of her elbows to look at the boy lying motionless beside her. "Remus?"

"Merlin, Becky," Remus murmured, eyes closed. "I think you elbowed me in the stomach. Do you know how sharp those things are? They should be registered with the Ministry as weapons."

"Which Ministry," Becky questioned. A smile was playing on her face regardless of the slight pain in her shoulder and at her hip from where she landed on Remus' hand.

"Does it matter," Remus replied. "Maybe for the safety of both the wizarding and muggle worlds, you should register those things you call elbows in both Ministries."

"You always know what to say to a girl to get her to fall for you, don't you," Becky smirked as she looked sideways into Remus' eyes.

"I got you to fall for me just now, didn't I," Remus smirked as he opened his eyes to look at his friend's reaction.

Becky was about to make her normal sarcastic reply, but something in Remus' expression stopped her. She could see there was some pain, both physical and emotional, behind his normally sparkling eyes. The glimmer that she had seen before he left for James' was only a faint glow now. Becky silently wondered if the flecks of yellow that surrounded the iris of each of his eyes swallowed some of his usual glimmer.

Something about the change in eye colour played at the back of Becky's memory. The change wasn't normal for most people, but it was normal for Remus. It didn't happen all the time, just when he was overly tired, overly emotional, overly angry which she saw only a few times a year. Probably once or twice a month.

Becky was so caught up in her own thoughts, that she didn't notice Remus' face moving closer to hers as he too looked stared into his friend's eyes. Remus continued to slowly move forward. Becky wasn't even aware until her eyes instinctively fluttered closed at the soft touch of Remus' lips against hers.

At first neither moved their lips. It was just a soft pressing of lips against lips. A few moments passed before Remus began to deepen the kiss by tilting his head slightly to have a better angle. Becky couldn't help but smile into the kiss.

Then as suddenly as the idyllic moment began all was lost. The blissful feeling Becky had felt with Remus, her best friend, was gone.

Remus had pulled back, eyes wide. The pain from the kiss of the course hairs on his jaw line seemed to electrocute him out of his peaceful moment. He had wanted to do that for so long, to kiss her, but the lasting effects of the full moon had ruined it. The pain reminded him of what he was just a few nights prior.

"I'm sorry," Remus gasped. His lower face still throbbed as a continuous reminder. "I shouldn't have done that."

Without another word, Remus pushed himself off the ground and ran from the room.

There was a shattering of glass and then the slam of a door from downstairs. Becky sat up on the floor. She cringed at the sound of the front door slamming and what was most likely the vase on the table in the foyer.

Becky let in a shaky breath. All she could do was stare blankly at the light green sheet that was hung haphazardly over her canvas and easel. Her vision was blurred as she stared at that one spot and her mind numbed all thoughts and questions about what just happened faded from her mind.

* * *

**A/N: So finally a Remus/Becky moment which was promptly ruined. Let me know your thoughts on the matter because they will really help me with the next few chapters and/or let me know if your opinion has changed in regard to Becky being a muggle or a witch (just a few more chapters before the true answer is revealed).**

**Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favourited! This story would not have been as long as it currently is or as successful without all of your suggestions and support. All of you are fantastic!**

**Always,**  
**orangezauber**


	13. Chapter 13: Battles in the Rain

**Chapter 13**

* * *

***Becky age 4, Remus age 5***

The rain was only a slight drizzle now as two children happily played in the puddles. A little yellow rain cap bounced merrily with a brightly coloured green one. Giggles could be heard every once in a while when water would fly into the air higher than the two hat clad heads.

"Let's pretend we're on a boat and we're in the middle of the ocean," Becky exclaimed jumping into the puddle off to her right with both feet together.

"Yeah! And then pirates come and attack us," Remus continued the story. He held his arm high and brought it down like he was holding a sword. "But they can't touch us because we are the best fighters in all of England!"

Becky danced around Remus eagerly fighting off the evil pirates only the two small children could see. Remus valiantly protected his water logged "boat" from the horrible pirates fighting back.

"Take that, you dirty man," Becky shrilly giggled. Her arms jabbing with the precision and grace only a five year old could manage.

A shout arose from Remus as he stumbled backwards clutching his stomach. "I've been hit!"

"I will save you, Rem! The pirates cannot win," Becky cried swinging, this time both arms, furiously in her last attempt to vanquish all of the remaining buccaneers.

"And with my magic healing powers I am saved," Remus announced not wanting to be left out of the epic battle of child versus pirate.

"I want magic healing powers too," Becky decided.

Remus stopped his sword fighting at turned to his friend. "Only wizards can have magic powers."

"Then I am a lady wizard," Becky settle on. She began to flail her arms again with not much different from when she wheedled her sword.

"There's no such thing as lady wizards."

"Uh, huh."

"No, there's not. You have to be a witch."

Becky thought about this for a second before she broke out into a large grin. "I don't want to be a witch. I want to be a pirate!"

Young Remus yelled with glee when his younger friend began to chase after him, water splashing under their feet.

Two women watched the children splash and giggle. One woman had a mildly concerned expression on her face while the other watched with an amused grin.

"Rebecca, sweetie! Please come inside, I don't want you catching your death out there in the rain," Nancy called from the porch.

"Muuum, pirated don't catch their death because of rain," Becky whined as she jumped into yet another puddle where the pedestrian walkway and road met. Water splashing up over her rubber boots caused her and her companion to let out another fit of giggles.

Nancy sighed while keeping a close eye on her small daughter. She was about to call out again when Jane stopped her.

"Let them play. They have been cooped up for days," Jane said placing a hand on her fellow mother's shoulder. "I can fix her right up if she gets so much as one little sniffle."

Nancy nodded as she continued to watch the two children dancing in rain. She groaned when Remus spun Becky into a particularly large puddle. The little girl slipped and fell onto her back. However, the act didn't faze the little girl because she immediately got up and chased after her friend once again with a smile on her face.

"Oops," Jane sheepishly apologized with a shrug to her worried friend. "Sorry. That's my son."

* * *

***Current Time***

Usually the rain was a reminder of fun times between Becky and Remus. Every time it rained they would make sure they planned something entertaining to do together. When they were younger it was chasing after each other through the puddles and as they got older, when puddle jumping wasn't as appropriate, Remus began taking Becky to Diagon Alley so he could get his books for the upcoming school year. Becky loved to go with him because she loved seeing all of the differences between the place where Remus got his school supplies and the place near her grandmother's house where she had to go to retrieve her own supplies.

However, the rain did not bring enjoyment like usual. It had been raining for four days straight and it had been about five days since Becky and Remus shared the disastrous kiss. Neither friend was talking to the other, despite their mothers' persistent attempts at getting the two of them to sit down and have a chat about whatever was bothering them.

After the kiss, Nancy had come home to find her daughter sitting on the bed, glaring at the sheets. When Nancy had tried to ask what was wrong, Becky had said she didn't want to talk about it. When the older woman pressed harder, Becky snapped at her mother by saying she should take it up with Remus because he was the one with the problem.

For five days, Nancy and Jane watched as both teenagers wandered around with lost expressions on their faces, that is to say when they actually left their respective bedrooms. They had never spent more than two days being angry at one another in the past and the two mothers were beginning to worry at the length of the fight this time.

Something had to be done to rectify whatever went on between the two teenagers and forcing them to spend time together seemed like the best option for now.

"Will you just quit moping about and talk to him," Nancy said to Becky. They were in the kitchen per their normal morning breakfast routine.

"It's none of your concern, mum," Becky snapped. She turned her back on her mother as best she could and returned to eating her cereal.

"None of my concern," Nancy's voice began to rise. "Rebecca Elsie James-Fourneir, I am getting sick and tired of your snapping attitude and your moping about the house. Jane rang here this morning asking if you wanted to go to Diagon Alley with her and Remus. I was going to give you a choice in the matter, but I have decided that this little spat between the two of you must come to an end."

Becky flinched at her mother's use of her full name. The near angry tone of her mother's voice wasn't helping either.

"There will be no argument about this. So you will finish your breakfast, put some clothes on, and go over to the Lupin's house and they can take you shopping with them," Nancy finished. She punctuated her lecture with a huff and the crossing of her arms against her chest.

"Fine," Bekcy reluctantly muttered. She knew she shouldn't argue with her mum when tempers were on the rise.

Becky reluctantly did as her mother said, but she did it slowly just to annoy her mum even further. She could swear she heard her mother muttering about 'stubborn children' while Becky got ready.

Once Becky was about the leave her mother stopped her.

"Here, take this," Nancy said handing a small, weighted envelope to Becky. "Make sure you give this to Jane. And I know I don't have to tell you not to let Remus know about it."

"It's not like I'm talking to him anyway," Becky muttered taking the envelope and felt the object inside the paper packet. Then she slipped the envelope into the back pocket of her pants. With that, she left the house with a quick good-bye to her mum.

She looked out the door to see the streets had constant water rushing down the sides, providing plenty of ammunition for cars to soak pedestrians who were unlucky enough to be walking about without any rain gear. Unfortunately, Becky was one of those unlucky pedestrians regardless of her attempts to stay as far away from the curb as possible. She only had to walk next door, but as soon as she walked to the end of her path an automobile drove by soaking her from head to toe in dirty gutter water off the road.

Becky grumbled in frustration as she stomped the rest of the way to the neighbouring house were Jane and a reluctant Remus were waiting for Becky so they could go to Diagon Ally to pick up Remus' school supplies. As soon as she had reached the door, Becky walked right in unceremoniously. She stood in the front hall waiting while her we cloths dripped onto the floor.

"Good-morn—" Jane said before she was interrupted by a musical dinging from somewhere else in the house. "Oh, I suppose it is afternoon now. Should we be going?"

"If you insist," Becky grumbled.

Jane flicked her wand, immediately drying Becky's wet clothing. "Remus already left. I said that we would meet him there. Now, grab onto my arm and hold tight."

"I hate this," Becky said grabbing Jane's arm tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut in preparation.

Without much warning, Becky felt all of her muscles contract at the same moment forcing the air out of her lungs. She felt like her whole body was being squeezed into a set of pipes used for plumbing.

Just before Becky felt like she was going to lose consciousness from lack of oxygen, her feet landed firmly on the ground. The rain drops that were still falling onto her exposed face soothed her nausea away.

"Sorry, Becky, sweetie," Jane apologized. She led the queasy looking girl over to a bench in front of the Flourish and Blotts bookstore. "I should have given you a warning."

"It's fine," Becky replied. "I'll just sit here for a while I get my sea legs back."

Jane laughed. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No, you go ahead," Becky said pulling the envelope her mother gave her out of her back pocket. "Mum told me to give this to you."

"I'll go take care of this too," Jane said knowing what Becky had handed to her. "If you need anything Remus is in there."

Before Becky could argue, Jane had disappeared into the crowd of cloaked witches and wizards busy rushing from one store to another to avoid the rain.

Becky closed her eyes again as she sat on the bench waiting for the sick feeling that still resided in her stomach to pass. She could hear the people around her laughing and muttering about the rain. Now that she was relaxing, and sickness in the pit of her stomach was leaving, she could appreciate the rain hitting the storefront awning.

Becky let out a small groan. She would have to go into the store eventually and see Remus. With her eyes still closed, Becky stood from the seat, but she was only paying attention to the rapid patting sound of the rain falling on the canopy of Flourish and Blotts. She was not aware of the person coming out of the door until it was too late.

Becky still had her eyes closed when she quickly stood from the bench. She was about to take one last breath before going into the store to wait for Jane and try her best to ignore Remus. As soon as she turned towards the door, she crashed into someone's hard chest.

Books and papers went flying every direction. People were too focused on getting out of the rain to focus on the disaster in front of the bookstore.

"I am so sorry," Becky gasped to the stranger she had knocked into. She opened her eyes immediately and reached down to help him pick up the books that were now scattered in front of the store.

Books were everywhere. Becky felt especially guilty when she saw some of the book laying in a pool of water a short distance from the bench.

"Really, I am so sorry. I wasn't paying any attention. I can buy you a new set of books."

"It's not a problem," the deep male voice replied. "I don't mind a few water logged books if it means a pretty girl falling all over me."

The statement caused Becky to look up immediately. "What did you just say?"

The dark haired stranger repeated with a cocky grin, "I don't mind a few water logged books..."

"That's what I thought," Becky cut him off.

It was something Remus would have said to get a rise out of her, but here was a person she had never met using very similar words. When she looked up she saw a boy around her age, possibly a little older, with messy black hair and hazel eyes hidden behind a paired of squired wired frames. Could this be one of Remus' friends from school?

He had a strong jaw that was littered with the shadow of a beard. He gave off a scruffy vive that said he knew he looked good. His hair had a naturally wind-blown look and it did help that he ran his hand through his hair giving it even more of that messy style.

"I'm James, by the way," James smiled down at the girl in front of him. He tried to use his most charming smile he could muster. "You seem very familiar. Have we met before?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Becky replied as she continued to study James. Now she was sure this was the James Remus talked about. The outgoing personality of someone who looks like they just stepped off of a broom was a giveaway.

James looked at Becky like he was expecting her to do something more than just stare. It took her a few moments before she realized what James probably wanted.

Becky's face turned slightly pink when she held out her hand for James. "Rebecca."

"Nice to meet a beautiful lady such as yourself," James eagerly took Becky's hand and raised it to his lips.

"Quite the charmer," Becky laughed. She felt herself relax more as James continued to flirt with her. It was the familiar flirting that she and Remus often shared. "I bet you do that to all of the girls who try to ruin your books. I really can replace them since it was my fault I ran into you."

"Don't worry about it," James smiled ruffling his hair as soon as he let go of Becky's hand. "It makes for a fantastic tale of two people meeting and..."

James' sentence trailed off. He never got to finish his sentence because something over Becky's left shoulder had caught his attention. When she turned around she saw a girl about her age with striking red hair.

"You know her," Becky curiously asked wondering if the girl James was staring at was the famous Lily Evans Remus had described.

"Yeah," James replied with a dreamy expression. "That's my Lily-flower."

"You're dating," Becky was surprised. Remus had always mentioned that Lily wouldn't give James the time of day.

"If only my Lily-flower would agree to one date. Then I know she would never want to leave my side like I never want to leave hers," James sighed. He suddenly snapped to his senses when he realized he was telling a complete stranger about this affection towards the beautiful red head.

"I don't know why I told you all of that," James said. He almost looked horrified about what he just disclosed.

"I don't mind attractive men confiding in me. My best friend does it all the time," Becky explained with a shy smile.

'If James could flirt with her then she could flirt back,' Becky thought.

James' face broke out into a wide smile and gave a quiet chuckle, "You just called me a man."

Becky burst out laughing for the first time in days. She couldn't believe that James commented on the fact she had called him a man and not on her saying he was attractive. He was definitely a friend of Remus'.

* * *

**A/N: So Becky met James. Only one more marauder for her to meet. Only a few more chapters before they have to go back to school. Let's hope Remus and Becky make up before then...**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and contributed their thoughts on this chapter. I love hearing from all of you!**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	14. Chapter 14: I know

Chapter 14

* * *

***A few days before Remus' 6th year***

"Just tell her you love her and be done with it," Sirius' slightly garbled voice came from the small object in Remus' hands.

Remus hadn't really been paying attention to the conversation. He had been looking out the window, watching as the rain came down in dashed lines in front of Becky's bedroom window.

It took a few more seconds for it to register what Sirius had just said. Remus head snapped down to stared at the two way mirror in his hands. He nearly threw the mirror, which was reflecting his friend's face, to the other end of his bed where Remus sat. _Why would they say such a thing? Hadn't they just been talking about the start of the term prank?_

"Don't try to deny it," James voice drifted from somewhere behind Sirius' head. "We see that smile that creeps onto your face when you read mystery girl's letters. We also see that dreamy look on your face right now. You love her."

"She's my mum's best friend's daughter," Remus said as if that statement alone would explain to friend's that the girl next door was nothing more than a friendly correspondence.

"And the two of you spend every waking moment together when you are home," Sirius said. "We've read the letters she sends you. She is more than just the daughter of your mum's friend."

There was the sound of something hitting something else and Sirius' head launched forward. The cool glass of the mirror coming into contact with his forehead.

"Oi, James. What was that for," Sirius questioned. He tried to hit James back, but James ducked out of the way just in time.

Remus tried not to laugh at the sour look on his friend's face when he discovered that James had hit Sirius in the back of the head to make him shut up.

"I already know you two go rooting through my letters," Remus rolled his eyes. He was sure his friends did not see the gesture because they were too busy squabbling with each other to pay attention to the mirror. The mirror was sudden dropped which gave Remus a great view of the ceiling of James' bedroom. Disembodied voices could still be heard quarrelling in the background. Every few seconds there would be a dull thud, a yelp, and then some form of a curse word.

Remus sighed at his friend's antics, but was glad for the distraction. He didn't want to have to explain his feelings about Becky to his friends.

"What's going on," Becky asked as she jumped onto the bed with Remus.

To say Remus was shocked was an understatement. He didn't hear Becky come into his room and he nearly tumbled off of the bed.

"Are there voices coming out of your mirror," Becky asked.

She curiously tried to peer around Remus hands to whom the voiced belonged. However, Remus would let her get any closer.

"Those are your friends from school, aren't they," Becky pressed as she continued to get past Remus outstretched arms. "You've enchanted a two way mirror. That's pure genius."

"No, it's not what you think it is," Remus tried to explain, but he knew Becky was not going to believe his lie. It didn't help when he realized that James and Sirius had stopped fighting and were now listening, even encouraging, Becky to talk to them.

Becky laughed. "See even your friend's want to talk to me."

With a quick lunge, Becky tried to grab the mirror out of Remus' hands. She landed on top of him, with the mirror pressed against their two bodies.

Muffled shouts of "Go Remus!" where heard. Mortified, Remus exclaimed a little louder than was necessary, "Mischief accomplished."

It wasn't a moment too soon because Becky got the upper hand and was able to snatch the mirror away from Remus.

However, she was disappointed to see only her own reflection staring back at her from the small object she was triumphantly holding.

"Reveal."

"Abraca Cadabra."

"Open Sesame."

"What the hell are you saying? Those aren't even real magic words," Remus questioned his friend. He gently took the mirror out of her hands and placed it on the table next to his bed.

"I'm trying to get into contact with your friends," Becky explained, sending Remus a glare. "I know that is who you were talking to before you so rudely interrupted our conversation."

Remus laughed. "If I'm not mistaken, I believe you are the one who interrupted the conversation I was having with _my_ friends."

"Sarcasm does not become you," Becky said pinching Remus cheeks. "You're supposed to be sweet and kind and always nice to young ladies such as myself."

Remus couldn't help but snort. "You think you are a lady?"

"Shut up. I'm more a lady than you are."

"Well, I should hope so."

"You know what I meant," Becky snapped.

Remus sighed. "I'm sorry, Bec."

"I know," Becky said with a smile creeping back onto her face. She slid off the bed and grabbed Remus' shirt by the shoulder to drag him off the bed as well.

"C'mon, we need to go shopping," Becky continued to drag Remus out of his bedroom by his shirt. "I still need to pick up my books before I head back to school."

* * *

***Current time; A couple of days before start of term***

Remus usually waited for a rainy stretch during the summer before going to Diagon Ally with his mum and Becky. He claimed it was because he was tired of being cooped up for days, but the real intention behind his reasoning was to prevent the other marauders from meeting Becky. His friends were less likely to be out school shopping while it was raining.

However, this time was different. He and Becky weren't talking and he didn't really want to be around her after leaving her nearly a week previous. So when his mother suggested that the two of them go to Diagon Alley to pick up his school things, Remus decided to go pick up his school supplies by himself.

"I'm leaving, mum," Remus said. He kissed his mother on the cheek before grabbing a handful of floo powder.

"Remus, what about Becky? You two always go together," Jane hinted. "I'm sure she would like to go with you."

"I'm 17 years old. I don't need to take my childhood friend with me where ever I go," Remus sighed. He could feel his throat tightening at the thought of Becky. It was hard not talking to her, but he knew what he did hurt her. So Remus decided to stay out of Becky's way until she gave him some indication that she was willing to talk to him first. It was the coward's way out of the situation and Remus knew it.

"Leaky Cauldron," He tried to not focus on the expression his mother was giving him as the green flames wrapped around his ankles in a secure hold causing him to spin on the spot. Remus watched the world begin to whirl and his vision became obscured by a green haze.

Within seconds, the spinning had stopped and Remus stumbled out of the fire place to see the most popular pub in just outside of Diagon Alley packed with patrons.

"Ah, Remus, my boy," Tom greeted from the bar.

"Good afternoon, Tom," Remus returned in salutation.

"Where's Miss Becky? She's usually not far behind ya," Tom laughed as he remembered all of the times the two friends would share a meal and then fight over paying the tab.

Remus tensed at the mention of his friend once again. "I'm by myself this time, Tom."

"Too bad, too bad," Tom said with a small frown before he wandered off to the back of the bar.

'_Great_,' Remus thought as he pushed his way passed a crowd of people in front of the Diagon Alley entrance. '_Even Tom seems disappointed in me for not bringing Becky. Why did I have to do something so stupid to make her mad at me_?'

As soon as Remus stepped through the portal to Diagon Alley, he was accosted with the rain pelting down on his head. He pulled cloak a little tighter around his form and walked up the street.

"Oi, Lupin," a voice yelled from not far behind.

There was no need for the young werewolf to turn because the person who called his name was already pulling him into the shelter of the book store, Flourish and Blotts.

"Some weather, eh," James said shaking his head like a dog causing droplets of water to fly in every direction. "Normal for this time of year, I suppose. So what are you here for, mate?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Why else would I be here, James? Hogwarts starts up again soon and I kind of need my books before term."

"Wow, sarcasm," James pointed out. "What's got you in a mood? You were fine a few days ago when you left mine."

"I don't want to talk about it," Remus replied. He tried walking away from James, but his friend followed closely behind.

"Don't you have Sirius to entertain you," Remus asked with a sigh. He really was not in the mood to deal with his chipper friend.

"I don't go everywhere with Sirius," James scoffed as if he was offended by the comment.

Remus turned around to face James. He raised an eyebrow at his friend, challenging the last statement.

James dramatically sighed. "Fine. He had to stay at home. He pissed off mum and as punishment was told he couldn't come."

James continued to follow Remus around the store much to Remus' chagrin. Both friends would pull a book off the shelf every once in a while and add it to the pile in each of their arms.

When Remus decided he wanted to look at books that were not on the required text list for school, James took his leave claiming that Remus was no fun to hang out with if he was only going to read books all day.

Remus was relieved when he was left to his own devices. He just wanted to be alone without having to listen to his friend drone on about trivial matters. If Remus couldn't have Becky with him, talking with him, then he didn't want anyone to be talking to him at all.

A short while had passed, allowing Remus to peruse the spines on the shelves. He happened to look over to the door just as someone he was not expecting walk in. It was Becky and she had a small smile on her face. A smile that Remus knew had not been there for days. He felt a small smile grow on his own face, but it quickly disappeared when he realized Becky was smiling at something that had nothing to do with him.

Instead of hopelessly staring at Becky, Remus chose to continue with his browsing regardless of the voice in his head that was telling him to run over to the girl and apologize to her again. He would have to play it cool if he wanted to get back into her best graces.

"What do you think about this book? Looks interesting doesn't it," Remus casually asked when he saw Becky approach him from the side.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you talking to me like a civilized person now," Becky questioned with a bite to her voice. "I'm surprised you didn't just apologize before you ran out the door."

Remus winced at his friend's harsh comment. "C'mon, Bec. Don't be like that. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to run off. It was stupid. "

"You had five days, Remus, to apologize for the first time. Then you do it again today by coming here without me," Becky said holding up her hand with her fingers spread apart to show him how many days it had been like he was a small child who had forgotten. "Count them...1...2...3...4...and today is the fifth day!"

"Don't treat me like I am some five year old, Becky," Remus snapped in defence. "I made a mistake. How many times do I have to say I am sorry before you finally forgive me?"

Becky glared at her friend. "We've been friends for most of our lives. We spend pretty much every waking moment we can together; did it ever cross you mind that our friendship could have been something more? Did you ever think, that maybe I wanted it to go further as well."

Remus didn't say anything. He merely looked at his best friend with a distant look. Becky couldn't tell if it was sadness, shame, or shock.

The waiting, while Remus stalled for an answer, became too much for Becky. She could feel the sting radiating round her eyes, but she sucked in a breath to hold back the tears. She would not allow herself to cry in the middle of the store or in front of Remus.

"This is what I'm talking about. You shut down every time something like this happens. I'm sorry, but this time...I've got to go." Becky's voice broke. She hurried away from Remus before any tears began to fall.

Remus watched as Becky retreated from the store. He still couldn't believe what she just implied. No, not implied; she had actually wanted something more. Something possibly similar to what he had wanted himself. He had to make it right.

"Damn it," Remus cursed. He quickly collected his books and paid for them.

He rushed out of the store. It was still raining and Remus was grateful because it would give him a better chance of finding Becky in the less crowded alley. But she was nowhere to be seen.

After about 15 minutes, Remus realized he wasn't going to find her so he went back to the Leaky Cauldron to warm himself up before he searched a little while longer. However, he didn't need to search much further because he saw his mother and Becky sitting at one of the tables near the entrance.

He slowly walked over to the table. Remus noticed there was already food on the table.

"There you are, Remus," Jane said when she saw her son had finally joined them. "We already ordered for you. It's not difficult to do when there is only one salad on the menu that doesn't have some kind of meat product in it."

Remus looked between his mum and Becky, trying to decide which side of the table to sit. Sit next to Becky who was clearly avoiding eye contact or sit next to his mother where he would have to stare at Becky who was not looking at him.

"Oh Merlin," Jane suddenly exclaimed. "I forgot to go pick _something_ up. Becky would you be a dear and have my food wrapped up for me and take these bags home with you?"

Becky immediately looked up from her plate when Jane addressed her. She gave a curt nod to the other woman as if there was some underlying reason for Jane's forgetfulness.

Remus couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something going on between the two of them. Something they didn't want him to know about, but that was the least of his problems at the current moment.

"Remus, take my seat," Jane said as she stood. She threw enough money on the table to pay for all three meals. "I'll meet you two at home."

Without another word, Jane disappeared into the back of the pub where the entrance to Diagon Alley resided.

"Well, that was stranger than usual," Remus said as he sat down across from Becky. He was hoping she would say something to him, anything.

All Remus could do was watch Becky pick at her food. She clearly wasn't enjoying it; neither was he. Good conversation always seemed to help the food taste better and the current conversation was lacking in much needed words.

Remus sighed. He obviously was not going to get Becky to talk to him. He had seen the devastated look in her eyes before she left the bookshop. She was on the verge of tears.

He did that. He almost made her cry. Remus hated how he couldn't tell Becky exactly how he felt; telling her exactly what he wanted would crush her. The kiss had been amazing; more amazing that he ever thought possible. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel her lips smile against his.

Now that the residual effects of the full moon had waned, Remus could focus on being a teenager and not a werewolf. He would be able to kiss Becky without feeling any painful reminders of what happens once a month. But this was Becky he was thinking about and the two of them would be leaving for school in a couple of days.

"Remus, you're staring," Becky murmured without taking any focus away from her plate.

"Sorry," Remus said as he quickly shoved some of his salad into his mouth in order to distract himself.

Becky stood from the table, grabbing the extra plate of food and the coins Jane left behind. "I'm going to get your mum's food wrapped up and pay. Then we can leave, yeah?"

"Wait," Remus said before Becky could leave the table. He grabbed her elbow so she couldn't continue to walk away.

When she turned, she looked at Remus for the first time since they were in Flourish and Blotts.

"I'm sorry," Remus apologized with a pleading in his voice.

"I know," was all Becky said before she left the table, food and money in hand.

The awkward feeling was still there, but it was one step in the right direction. Next step, finding the right time to talk it out.

* * *

**A/N: I applogize for the long wait. Preparation for final exams was tough. I had to put all of my focus into reviewing the material which meant my stories were ignored for a couple of weeks.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Your comments are welcomed and appreciated beyond comprehension.**

**So the next chapter will be the last chapter Remus and Becky are fighting. I can't stand to write them not talking anymore.**

**Thanks again for waiting for this chapter. The next one should be up within the next week :-)**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	15. Chapter 15: The Last Night

**Chapter 15**

* * *

***Remus age 13, Becky age 12: Night before Becky leaves for France***

"And what is that constellation?"

"Mermaidous Usula."

The two teenagers were staring up at the velvety blanket of stars. They were lying in the grass far enough away from each of their houses so the light from the windows would not pollute darkness the stars craved.

"Okay now you're just making things up, Remus."

Remus laughed. "You expect me to remember what all of the different star constellations are. It's been a year or more since I learned all of them."

"Yeah, well. It may have been over a year for you, but I need to know them for right now. I have an exam for the first day of classes," Becky whined grabbing a fist full of grass and throwing it up the air in frustration. The green blades sprayed down on the two of them. "I need to pass this class otherwise they are going to make me take astronomy next year and that would mean I cannot take any art classes."

"Why didn't you do this earlier? You had the entire summer to be working on this assignment," Remus stated waving his hands in the air and across his face to rid himself of grass.

"Well, it's not entirely my fault," Becky said rolling onto her stomach. She could feel the cool dew laden grass tickling her arms as she did. "If someone wasn't constantly distracting me or telling me I am not allowed to go outside after dark, then I would have finished."

"Why is it everyone always blames me for their procrastination," Remus wondered out loud remembering how his friends from school often blamed him for their terrible study habits or near failing marks.

"You make a wonderful person to blame, I suppose," Becky said as she sketched another constellation onto her chart. "That is the reason I blame you for everything that goes wrong because it cannot possibly be my fault."

"And why is that," Remus asked ignoring the frustrated shout from his friend when he took her writing utensil away.

"It's when you do things like this," Becky huffed gesturing with her empty hands. "And the fact I am so much prettier than you."

Remus laughed as he scratched out a couple of the stars which were misplaced. "I hardly think that is a good enough reason for you to place all of your blame on me because we both know you're not prettier than I am."

Becky angled herself so she could us her hands to pinch Remus' cheeks. "Yes, you are so pretty," she cooed.

Remus' cheeks flushed with embarrassment and the pressure of the pinches. The more he tried to pull away the harder his friend seemed so squeeze. His whimpers of irritation did not deter Becky from her continuous cooing.

"Geroff me," Remus finally growled. He quickly turned his head, licking one of Becky's wrists.

Becky recoiled in disgust. "That is repulsive, Remus."

"Don't pinch my cheeks my cheeks then," Remus replied calmly returning back to crossing stars off of the chart.

"Will you stop destroying my assignment?"

"I will once you start doing it correctly. You know very well there is no group of stars called Remus the Almighty Toerag."

"How would you know? You said you didn't remember much from your astronomy class," Becky teased, finally getting the writing instrument out of Remus' grasp.

"You know," Remus said leaning over his friend's shoulder to look at her map of the stars. "If you spent half as much time working on your class assignments as you did on your drawings, you would do really well. You should apply yourself a little more. Show off that brilliance I know is in there somewhere."

"But I'm not interested in anything else," Becky sighed leaning into Remus and pushing her chart aside.

The two of them laid on their stomachs in the grass comfortably silent.

After a few minutes, Becky broke the silence. "I just want to paint. I think I would be really good at painting people's portraits."

"You have come a long way from your two headed goat family," Remus laughed jabbing Becky in the neck with his head.

"I always knew I hated you," Becky mock glared at him. "But you're right..."

"Wait, say that again," Remus interrupted.

"'I always knew I hated you'," Becky repeated knowing perfectly well what Remus wanted her to say, but ignoring his request. And she kept ignoring his incessant poking as she continued, "In order to have the painting career I want, I found out I need to get good marks in..."

"Rebecca, time to come inside," Nancy yelled from the back door of the house.

"I'll see you in the morning before you head off," Remus sighed while standing up.

He offered his hand to Becky, which she took after rolling up her constellation chart. Remus pulled his friend into a hug. "I'll miss you, Bec."

"Miss you too, Rem," Becky murmured into Remus' ear.

* * *

***Current Time***

"I hate it when we have to leave for school," Remus sighed. He could see the silhouettes of his mother and Becky's mum watching them from the window.

"I hate it when our mothers don't let us in the house," Becky grumbled.

The two mothers had locked their children out of both houses. They had claimed that even though they didn't know what was going on between Remus and Becky that the two teens would not be allowed back into either house until a civilized conversation came about. Jane had even gone so far to magic the doors locked. She had threatened to jinx anyone who attempted to get into one of the houses, using magical means or not.

"It means the warm nights of the summer must come to a close," Remus continued to carry on a conversation. The faster he got Becky to talk to him the sooner they could go inside and the sooner he would have his best friend back to normal.

Things were still mildly awkward between the two of them, which was evident based on the distance they had put between themselves as they laid in the grass observing the twinkling stars lining the black velvet sky covering. Usually their shoulders would be pressed against one another and their fingertips would be grazing against each other.

It was nearing midnight and they knew they had to leave the comforts of home and the blissfulness of summer. Tomorrow was the day each of them would make their journey back to the world of academics.

Remus quickly turned to his best friend. He didn't want to go for the light chitchat like he had been doing for the past few hours. If things were already feeling this awkward now there was no way things could get much worse if he brought up the subject of the kiss. Plus they were on semi-okay speaking terms since Diagon Alley. And by 'semi-okay,' it meant Becky was allowing Remus to talk to her without her leaving the room.

"Becky, please listen to me. I am tired of you not talking to me. It's killing me constantly having one sided conversations," Remus pleaded. He rolled over onto his side so he could have a better look at the girl lying next to him. "I need to explain why I did what I did a few days ago."

"You should have thought of that before you ran off, Remus," Becky said crossing her arms over her chest. She knew Remus was going to be the first one to bring it up and even though she didn't want to give in, she knew it was best to get it over with before they left for school. "What was I supposed to think? It's not exactly a great feeling to have a guy kiss you and the run away."

"I know," Remus growled sitting up fully. His hands went straight to his hair in irritation. "I wasn't thinking clearly. There's just something that happens to me when I come back from James'. I can't explain it right now, but I saw you looking into my eyes with such curiosity. I was curious myself. I wanted to know what it was like to kiss you just be more than friends just once. I didn't feel like myself. It was like an animal instinct took over my brain and then the same instinct told me to stop."

"But you ran. You didn't just stop...you left," Becky whispered from her position on the ground. She covered her eyes with the crook of her elbow to hide the frustration she still felt towards Remus.

"I know and it was stupid. Like I said, my brain was telling me to go for it, but the rest of my body was telling that was not the right moment," Remus explained. He turned around to look at Becky once again.

"And what about now? Would right now be the right moment," Becky questioned. She still did not remove her arm from covering her eyes as she talked.

"No," Remus replied after a second of thought.

Becky let out a heavy sigh and pushed herself up from the ground and began pacing. "That's what I thought. I can't go back to being just friends right now Remus. I know people always say that their friendship would never be ruined, but I don't want to feel awkward around you anymore. We might just need more time away from each other. I just wish that I hadn't been...ugh! This is going to be so awkward. What were mum and I thinking?"

"As much as I consider your mum as my second mum, I really don't see what she has to do with this," Remus said. He remained sitting in the grass and watched Becky pace as she rambled. He was, however, extremely curious what Becky's mum had to do with anything.

"It doesn't matter," Becky stopped her pacing. She focused on the faint outline of the path she had made in the grass which could be seen in the light of the half-moon. "I want things to be the way they were. We had plans and now..."

"Wait," Remus pleaded grabbing Becky's hand as she began to walk away. "I agree. I was stupid to have changed our friendship so drastically. It's not that I don't want to be with you because when I am around you I am this person I wish I was all the time. It's just..."

"Come on, Rem, just say it. We are too far into this heart-to-heart for you to back down now," Becky said, trying to pull her hand out of Remus relentless grip.

"I just don't want to have a letter writing relationship."

"Huh?" That was not what Becky was expecting Remus to say.

Remus nearly laughed at Becky when she tilted her head in confusion. However, he knew laughing at a time like this would only frustrate her more. He already didn't know half of the things she was talking about. It took a couple of seconds for Remus to recollect his thoughts.

"I don't want to go further with our friendship if all we are able to do is write letters back and forth," Remus slowly explained never letting go of Becky's hand. "I want to be able to spend more time with you before we both leave for the summer. If we are together then I want to be actually together."

The confusion on Becky's face melted into a delicate smile. "You want us to be together."

"Yes," Remus confirmed even though he knew Becky was not questioning his words. He took Becky's other hand in his before he continued. "I promise you. The next time we are together, meaning in the same place, I will ask you out on a date. But for now, I don't want us to be in a relationship during school if we only get to send letters to each other."

Becky's smile got even wider. "I think I can live with that...for now."

"If anything changes..." Remus began, but was cut off by Becky kissing him.

She pulled away much too soon for either of their liking, but she knew she had to respect Remus' wishes.

"You promise," Becky laughed when she heard Remus groan in frustration.

"What did I just finish telling you, woman," Remus exclaimed in reference to Becky kissing him.

"Oh, you meant for the no relationship thing to start now. Sorry, I misunderstood that part," Becky replied with a cheeky grin.

There was an audible click in the background. Both teenagers turned to see the door to the Lupin house open and their mothers grinning madly from the kitchen window.

It took only a second for Remus and Becky to share a look before they took off running towards the house.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you once again to everyone to reviewed! I continue this story for you guys now (and of course for my own amusement to see what all of you think).**

**So Remus and Becky finally stopped fighting. Thank goodness, because it would have meant for some disasterous chapters later. However, I ruined everyone's hopes and dreams of them getting together right now because they both have to go back to school. Sorry...this was part of the original plot.**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	16. Chapter 16: Before Term Begins

**Chatper 16**

* * *

***Becky age 11, Remus age 12***

"But I don't want to go to France," Becky panicked. "I don't know anyone there, I can't really speak more than a few sentences in French, and most of the food is strange."

"I'm sure they think what you eat is strange too, Becky," Nancy tried to console her daughter as they rode to the train station. "Plus you know your grandmother."

"But grandmère isn't going to school with me," Becky whined grabbing her best friend's elbow. "Why can't Remus come with me?"

"He has his own school to go to in a few days," Nancy explained to her cowering daughter. She knew Becky didn't want to go to France, but it was something her father wanted her to do ever since she was born. Laurent when to school in France and he always wanted to share that with Becky and even though he was gone, Nancy didn't have the heart to send her daughter anywhere else.

"I want to learn magic with Remus. Mum, please," Becky begged still clinging onto Remus, who just stood there with a sheepish yet awkward smile on his young face.

Nancy sighed. "Becky, you can't go with him. We already talked about why."

"It'll be alright, Becky," Remus said turning his head slightly to look at his younger friend. "We will still be able to see each other during the winter and summer holidays."

"Traitor," Becky gasped. She immediately let go of Remus and backed away from him as if he had just physically burned her. "I thought you were on my side. I thought you wanted me to go with you. You can't let me go to France! I don't want to go to school there!"

"I can't argue with your mum," Remus whispered in Becky's ear. "She might tell my mum and then my mum will have to talk to me again why I can't take you to school with me. I don't need yet another boring explanation."

"Perhaps you are the one who is boring," Becky huffed.

Nancy stood there watching the two children bicker like...well...children. She and Jane had thought once Remus started school than he would have matured a little bit. However, having a friend who was a year younger didn't seem to help matters.

The bickering began to escalate to yelling and Nancy took this as a good time to make her presence known once again.

"Stop," Nancy scolded stepping in front of the two children so their attention would be on her. "The two of you can argue all you want, but it is not going to change what schools the two of you are going to attend. And Becky stop muttering in French. I may know only enough French to order off a French menu, but that does not mean I do not know the gist of what you are saying. For someone, who doesn't know French very well, you sure know a lot alcoholic beverages. No doubt from your grandmother."

Becky's face flushed. She just wanted Remus to think she knew what she was talking about. She forgot her mum knew some French as well because of dad.

"Now, Becky," Nancy said sternly. "You will go back to your room and you will finish packing. You will go to your grandmother's tomorrow and she will take you to school. Remus, I appreciate your concern for Becky and you wanting her to go to school with you, but that is out of the question."

Both children nodded and trudged up the stairs to Becky's room without another word.

Once they were both in Becky's room, they collapsed on the bed. Neither one saying anything, but both thinking similar thoughts of how much they were going to miss each other. Remus going to school the year before had been difficult, but this time they would both be going to school.

Becky reached out and took Remus' hand. "You're going to write to me aren't you, Remus? Like you did this year?"

"Of course," Remus replied, squeezing Becky's hand in reassurance. "And think about how much eaiser it will to write this time. The letter delivery will be much faster."

"Sure," Becky smiled at the ceiling.

"Should I help you finish packing," Remus asked, letting go of Becky's hand and sliding off the bed.

Remus immediately went to her closet and began throwing things onto the bed, covering his friend in her own clothing.

"You're terrible at packing," Becky laughed. One more piece of clothing hit her in the face before she too got off the bed.

Becky rushed over to where Remus stood, pushed him into the closet and closed the door laughing the entire time.

* * *

***Current Time; On the Hogwats Express***

"She was kind of cute, but not as beautiful as my Lily-flower," James gushed ruffling his hair out of habit whenever he talked or thought about Lily.

"I'm surprised you even talked to another girl when Lily was around," Sirius said a smile creeping onto his face as he tore into his best mate. "Too bad I wasn't there. I could have swept the fair maiden off of the cobblestone road of Diagon Alley and then—"

"Shut up, Padfoot," James said. "She didn't seem like the type of girl to give into you. She was really easy going and she seemed to see right through my flirting."

"You flirted with someone else? What will your Lily-flower think? I, for one, am ashamed to call you my best mate. How could you cheat on Evans like this? What will your future children think when they hear their daddy was flirting with some other girl," Sirius dramatically flailed his arms about. First his hands went to his mouth in shock then one hand went to his heart while the other went to his forehead palm up in order to punctuate his fake distress.

"Didn't I just tell you to shut up," James asked as he punched his friend in the arm.

Remus sat in the corner of the compartment next to Peter on the train opposite of James and Sirius. Remus and Peter were listening to their friends talk about the girls they had met over the summer. One would think they would have done this multiple times during the break since Sirius moved in with James the previous summer. Then again, when it came to James and Sirius usually they only talked about girls, in James' case his Lily-flower, or pranks.

"It was harmless chatting," James continued to defend what he was talking about. "I said nothing that would make my lovely Lily jealous."

"And Evans didn't even notice you talking to another girl or if she saw she didn't care in the slightest, did she?" Sirius laughed when James hung his head in embarrassment.

Through his laugher, Sirius turned to Remus and Peter. "Can either of you believe it? James was talking to a girl who wasn't Evans and this is after the girl practically mauls him to get into the bookstore. If it were me, I would take that as a sign."

"Well, I wouldn't say she 'mauled' me," James interjected.

"Uh huh. Then what do you call this," Sirius asked after he rummaged through James' belongings to pull out a damaged potions book.

The book looked like someone had thrown it into a cauldron of water to see if it could float. However, it seemed the experiment failed miserably and the book drowned leaving each crinkled page stuck together.

"There's nothing wrong with the book. It gives the book character and leaves you with the opportunity to tell a great story," Peter chimed in. Peter did love a good story.

"Thank you, Pete," James exclaimed poking Sirius in the chest. "That's what I told, Rebecca. She seemed amused by the idea of our meeting being a great beginning to a story."

Remus nearly choked and his book fell to his lap when James mentioned that name.

"Something wrong, mate," Sirius looked at Remus curiously when he heard his friend make a choking sound. "Do you need some water?"

"Where did you meet this girl," Remus cautiously asked waving off Sirius' offer for water. Remus was afraid James was going to say—

"I met her in Diagon Alley. You know the day I saw you and it was raining," James rambled. "She was kinda small, brown hair, green eyes, looked to be around our age. She said her name was Rebecca."

"Yeah, I caught that part," Remus muttered. That was exactly what he had hoped James wouldn't say. Remus nearly groaned when he realized that Becky had met James.

Then Remus said, trying to hide any recognition of the name. "What did the two of you talk about?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Talked about her falling for my good looks, literally, and we talked a little bit about Lily," James sighed dreamily. He was once again lost in the world of fiery red hair and glowing green eyes.

"What did she say," Remus pressed. He ignored the look Sirius was giving him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Rebecca said she wanted to buy me a new set of books. I, ever being the gentleman I am, refused. Then after talking a little more she saw me looking at Lily and asked if I was dating Lily."

"You wish," Peter laughed which as immediately stifled when he saw the glare James was shooting him from across the compartment.

James continued talking still glaring at Peter. "She also said she didn't mind being the listening ear to attractive guys because she listens to her best friend all the time, who I can only assume is a bloke. And she called me a man."

"Why are you so interested in her? Are you looking for someone, Moony," Sirius wondered out loud. "We could set you up with someone this year. It being our last year and all. There are plenty of nice girls at Hogwarts who would be happy enough to giggle while you attempted to flirt with them."

"Er, no reason for my interest," Remus insisted. However, he could feel his heart beating a little faster as he thought about Becky. "She, this girl, just sounds like a genuinely nice person. And I am not looking for any sort of a relationship. You all know my reasoning as to why."

"Well, James did meet her outside of a bookstore. Perhaps she would be a good candidate for young master Remus to date," Sirius said to James and Peter. He completely ignored what Remus just said.

"What?! No! That's not why I was asking," Remus exclaimed. He wished his friends would stop talking about this. They were treading into some dangerous and uncomfortable territory.

"Sure it wasn't. I bet that mystery letter girl of yours doesn't exist and you are wanting to find someone you can actually love. You can't love pieces of paper, Remus."

Remus suddenly stood. He was shocked at the direction the conversation had taken. "How did this get turned around on me? Weren't we just talking about James flirting with some girl who wasn't Lily!"

Sirius once again ignored his friend and continued to pester him. Sirius did this partly because he thought it was funny to see Remus' face flush and partly because Sirius was eternally bored. "Did mystery girl not give you enough lovin' over the summer, Moony?"

Remus looked around the compartment hoping to find something to distract his friends from their relentless torture. He heard a couple of fifth years talking as they walked past their compartment.

"I wonder what the prefect meetings are like," one fifth year said.

"Me too," the other girl agreed before their voices trailed off down the corridor.

"You know what, I think we're done here. I have a prefect meeting to get to," Remus happily exclaimed. He finally had an excuse to leave his friends.

Before Remus left he turned to Peter. "Pete, I'm sorry to leave you like this. Good luck!"

With that Remus quickly disappeared in the direction of the two fifth year prefects to the front of the train where the first meeting was going to take place.

The three remaining friends watched Remus leave. Sirius and James had smug smiles on their faces and Peter looked a little alarmed at his friend's sudden departure. With Remus gone that would mean the other two would turn their attention towards him.

"You know," James said after a couple of beats of silence. "It's obvious he likes this mystery girl he writes to. Why don't we send her a couple of letters."

Sirius jumped in excitement. "Why didn't we ever think about that before? We could act as though we are writing as Remus and tell her how much he likes her."

"Let's write one right now," James turned to his friend. He quickly began pulling items out of his bag in search for some blank parchment and a usable quill.

As James was pulling things out of his case something shining fell onto the floor. Peter picked it up and looked at the small glimmering badge marked with an 'HB.'

"Er, James. Aren't you head boy now," Peter asked holding up the small treasure for the other two to see.

James stared at the badge for a couple of moments before realization hit him, "Ah! Shit!"

"Great first impression as Head Boy, don't you think," Sirius laughed as James ran out of the compartment swearing. "Now about this letter..."

* * *

**A/N: Again I would like to thank everyone who reviewed. You all are fantastic and I appreciate you taking the time to send me a review! I love hearing about your reactions to the chapters :-)**

**I appologize for the lack of any real action in this chapter (not my best work). It was put in as more of a filler because I needed something inbetween the last chapter and the next chapter. The next chapter should be a lot better, but it will be written slightly differently...more letters than actual conversations.**

**Next chapter should be up in a week or less. And Happy New Year to everyone, if I don't hear from you before then!**

**Always,  
orangezauber :-)**


	17. Chapter 17: Revealing Letters

**Chapter 17**

* * *

***Remus age 16, Becky age 15***

_Rem!_

_I cannot believe them! They locked me in the wardrobe because I wouldn't give them my essay so they could copy it. Just because I hardly talk to anyone here does not mean they can take advantage me actually getting my work done before them. These girl are horrible. I honestly don't know how much more of them I can take before I snap. It's obviously not enough for them to be arrogant self-involved, no! They have to shove me into the wardrobe. Do you know how small those things are not to mention how dark. I nearly died out of panic. You know what small dark places do to me. I shudder to think about the blubbering mess I would have been if these 'hens' hadn't opened the door._

_If it wasn't bad enough, after they let me out, I found out that they had ransacked my bag. Now there are going to be at least three copies of my essay turned in. The only thing that gives me piece of mind is that they will be caught. The professors always know when a student has been cheating. I asked Alexis about it, but she said she had yet to figure it out. There is nothing in the books in the library about it...believe me, I've checked. Haha._

_Anyway, I have to finish a project before I allow myself to go to bed. I just had to rant to something and I didn't want to disturb Alexis at this time of night. You are my best option for now._

_Hope things are going well for you. Eight weeks until I see you next._

_Always,_

_Becky_

_P.S. if you know of anything I can slip into my dorm-mates' dinner that would be fantastic!_

Remus laughed as he read the letter to himself. It pained him how much his life paralleled his best friend's. Well, except he probably wouldn't become a 'blubbering mess' if one of his friends decided to lock him in broom closet or something.

"What that, mate? Another letter from mystery girl," James asked with a mouthful of eggs and sausages. Some of the food fell from his lips as he spoke landing on his plate an mixing with the not yet touched piles of breakfast.

"I can see why Lily avoids you," Remus said ignoring James and the avalanche of food bits falling from his mouth.

"She loves me, she just doesn't know it yet," James smiled as best he could. His cheeks rounded like pouches as if storing his eggs for the winter.

Peter snorted out a laugh, but covered it as if he was choking on his pumpkin juice. Once he recovered from his obvious fake coking he asked, "how can she be in love with you and not know it. If I were in love with someone I am sure I would know."

"That's because you're not a girl. We, men, are more in tune with the emotion of love," Sirius said sliding into the seat next to Peter and across from James. "Unless you're Remus, of course."

Remus was about to laugh when Sirius said men were more aware of love than girls, but he stopped short when Sirius insulted him. "Hold on. What do I have to do with this?"

"It's obvious you're in love with your mystery girl," James mumbled, his cheeks still stuffed.

"For Merlin's sake. Swallow your food, James," Remus exclaimed.

James tried to make a show out of him swallowing, but ended up choking instead.

"See, Pete," Sirius said. "Now, that is what choking is supposed to look like."

Remus sighed before hitting James on the back a couple of times. James murmured a 'thanks mate, through a raspy voice and teary eyes.

Remus nodded and then got up from the table. "I'm off to Charms."

Before he could get much further he heard Sirius speaking in a high pitched voice.

"_I cannot believe them! They locked me in the wardrobe because I wouldn't give them my essay..."_

"Give me that," Remus said storming back to his friends and ripping the paper out of Sirius' grasp. Without another word Remus left the Great Hall in search of the quiet Charms classroom where his friends were not likely to follow for another 15 minutes.

Once in the privacy of the empty Charms classroom, Remus began to compose a return letter to Becky. He kept it short because he knew she only wanted to rant and she did not expect a long reply.

He would send the letter during lunch and wait for Becky to write back.

Becky's reply came a few days later and it was yet another rant about her dorm-mates.

_Remus!_

_So it's Saturday now (I got your letter yesterday during dinner) and they've done it again! I nearly spent the entire day in the bathroom because I refused to tell my dorm-mates about the 'fit Englishman' whose picture I keep next to my bed and 'is he the one who wrote you that letter last night?'. It's the same questions each time. They are convinced you and I are dating. They can't seem to get it through those product filled heads of theirs that I can be friends, just friends, with someone who looks like you. _

_If I have to spend one more year with these girls I am going to rip my hair out or their hair. I haven't decided yet. I really wish you would have sent me some kind of prank solution I know you and your friends are so fond of._

_The only reason I was let out of the bathroom was because one of the girls forgot to remove her make-up before climbing into bed. I think this will be the first time I actually appreciate that they were make-up._

_Madam keeps insisting I wear make-up as well because we learned how during etiquette class and it would be 'nice to show off what I am learning.' They are probably just angry I rather keep to myself than play pretty, pretty princess with all of the 'French Royalty.' At least they all act like royalty._

_Anyway, thanks again for being my listening ear...or I suppose eyes in this case. You don't make me feel like an outcast. I know dad was brought up this way, but I don't fit in this school or at least not in this dorm. I wish I had gotten sorted into another room...perhaps the professors will take pity on me next year._

_Miss you,_

_Becky_

_P.S. Our mother's say hello. Although, I am not sure why they couldn't have written to tell you that themselves. Last I checked I did not have wings or feathers or eat mice._

Remus laughed. Becky always seemed to have some kind of outrageous story about her dorm-mates torturing her. Then again, Remus had the same problem with his fellow marauders torturing him.

In a little more than eight weeks he would be able to meet her on the muggle side of King's Cross and they would be able to spend the summer together. Then both of them would be able to forget all of the horrible happenings during the school year and focus just on being together.

Remus sat in the library reading the latest letter from Becky. It had taken him six years, but he finally learned not to open Becky's letters during a meal or in the dorm. In other words, Remus had learned not to open any of his letters in the presence of the other marauders.

He chuckled to himself as he read the first half of the letter. It had only been on one week since the beginning of the term and already Becky was in a ranting rampage.

* * *

***Current Time...Hogwarts; End of the first Week***

_Remus,_

_I cannot believe how much work I have already! I don't think I have ever worked so had academically in all of my years of schooling! This school seems to think I am graduating this year. Is this how it was for you last year? Did they give you an insane amount of work in order to "prepare you?" I know they had us buy all of those books for exam prep at the beginning of last year, but I thought I would get some kind of break this year._

_Anyway, other than being buried in homework the girls in my dorm aren't bad this year. I guess you could say I moved dorms so I don't have to deal with the incessant chatter about boys or being locked in closets. Well, I guess I still have to hear that, but it's not the same at least these girls run in different circles so they don't talk about the same boy's. It's still about "fit" English boys._

_Speaking of boys, there's this guy at school. He seems really sweet, which is not something I would expect from someone like him. I haven't been able to talk to him yet...the time just hasn't been right. He's one of the people the girls are constantly talking about. I can't believe the guy I am constantly thinking about...wanting to talk to, is so popular. Who would have thought...me...wanting to talk to someone so sought after by the female population. I know this seems sudden, but I really can't get him out of my mind. I see him talking to his friends during meals and I find myself wishing I could hear the conversations he and his friends are sharing. The girls in my dorm keep seeing me looking over in his direction and they say I should go talk to him. I just want to talk to you in person, Rem. This letter writing business is horrible. I'm so sorry. What do you think I should do? Should I talk to him?_

_Anyway, enough about me and my teenage drama... How are you doing during your first couple of days of school? Any girls you cannot seem to live without...other than me of course? I would understand if you did have someone else in mind. Have you started your revisions for your Nasty Exams yet?_

_Write to me soon! I miss you!_

_Always,_

_Becky_

Remus stared at the letter in his hand. He could not believe what he had just read. Becky had found a guy at school she liked? He knew he had said they should wait to be together, but the words in the letter haunted him. '_Speaking of boys, there's this guy at school...I am constantly thinking about him...should I talk to him?...should I talk to him?" _Remus could feel his chest tightening. It was painful to think of Becky liking another guy...even wanting to talk to another guy. Deep down in his heart Remus knew this guy was better for Becky because he most likely wouldn't be a monster like him. However, the pain and jealousy couldn't help but bubble over.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt she was being a hypocrite. Becky didn't talk to him for days because of the whole relationship thing and here she is ready to throw it away because she sees a pretty face at another table.

He reached over to his bag and pulled out a quill. It didn't take him long to think of a reply to Becky. It may not have been the best approach, but the anger and jealousy seemed to fuel his reply. On the other hand, shallow breaths and aching chest were making it difficult for him to concentrate and actually put his quill to the parchment.

Finally he just began to write.

_Becky,_

_Things are going well so far. I am going mad about all of the time we wasted arguing or not talking over the summer. I don't think I got enough time with you. Anyway, I'm glad things are working out better for you this year. It must be interesting to be able to trade rooms. Is that something that normally happens or was it you being your stubborn self not wanting to be a normal girl?_

_Don't worry about the amount of work. They really pushed us last year because we had to start thinking about what we wanted to do career-wise. They told us what kind of classes we would need to get NEWTs in, in order to succeed in our chosen path. Of course, I have started studying. I know you may think I don't do much work, but I do want to graduate someday and get a job...unlike some people I know who just want to sit around all day painting. Haha._

_You like a guy..._

Remus decided to start it off slow, conversational like normal. However, Remus nearly broke his quill as he began to write the second half of his reply. He didn't want to aknowledge he had read that part of Becky's letter let alone give her advice. To say he wasn't hurt would be a lie. It was not that long ago they had said they wanted to be together. Remus knew Becky liked him, but here she was talking about some other guy. These thoughts would not leave his mind.

She must be testing him...teasing him...wanting Remus to react. Fine, if she was going to test him then he would do the same to her.

_...Well, as a guy I can honestly say you should __not__ talk to him first. We like to be the ones to approach a girl, a pride thing and all (At least that's what Sirius always says...then again what does he know, he is still sticking to his oath of 'no girls'). Anyway, if it was meant to be he would approach you. Have him make the first move. I know how much of a closet romantic you are, so wait for him to come to you. I know you this probably wasn't what you wanted to hear, but honestly, just wait for him to go to you. Then you should play hard to get. Guys like the chase. They don't like girls to seem too needy. Quit staring at him. That will only make you seem too needy. That's all I can say for now._

_Miss you, too._

_Remus_

Remus quickly sealed the letter and gathered up his belongings before he lost his nerve to send it. He knew the letter sounded harsh, but it was the best he could do with all of the emotions running through him.

He rushed out of the library and practically ran to the owlry. He could feel some guilt slipping in beneath his anger. No, he couldn't let that stop him. She had to know how he felt even if it was a little on the passive-aggressive side.

Remus went up the owlery steps two at a time only stopping for at moment at the top to catch his breath. A large, two-toned brown, barn owl quickly swooped down to welcome him.

"Hello, Becus," Remus greeted. He pulled a couple of owl treats out of his pocket, allowing Becus to happily take the savoury morsels.

"I need you to seen this letter to Becky," Remus said to Becus as he tied the letter to the owl's leg.

Becus gave a soft affectionate hoot of acknowledgement. Remus watched as his owl took flight and rounded the curve of the owlery.

Once the owl was out of sight, Remus began to walk down the path from the owlery. It was Saturday and he planned to spend a relaxing day in the dorm.

"Really, mate, it was a complete accident," Peter said as he nearly ran into Remus at the base of the stairs. Sirius was following close behind, laughing.

"What have you done," Remus asked grabbing Peter's shoulders to stabilize him.

"I didn't mean to. It was a complete accident. I didn't see them," Peter rambled.

Remus turned to Sirius for translation.

Sirius smiled. "He ran into a group of Hufflepuffs and knocked on of the girls down. Landed right on top of her. He turned bright red, eyes got wide when he realized he was on top of a girl, and then screamed before running off. Now, here we stand."

"Did you at least apologize before you ran away," Remus asked.

Peter only shook his head. Sirius laughed. Remus sighed.

"So where are the two of you going? I'm headed back to the dorm," Remus said. Changing the subject was always best when one of his friends did something stupid.

The two friends shared a glance. They both said, "sending a letter" at the same time.

"To whom may I ask?"

"Peter was just sending a letter to his mum. You know, checking in to see how he's doing."

Peter nodded eagerly. "Yeah, my mum..."

"Could we borrow, Becus," Sirius asked.

Remus gave his friends a sceptical look. "Sorry, just sent him out."

"Oh, too bad. We'll just go back to the dorms with you and the three of us can hang out," Sirius said dropping an arm on both Remus and Peter's shoulders.

Sirius steered his friends toward the Gryffindor common room. James joined them shortly and Peter was teased without mercy until they all went down to dinner.

Before the boys made it to the Great Hall, Remus heard a soft hoot of an owl behind him. He turned to see Becus perched on the head of a suit of armour. The large owl shifted back and forth to show Remus he had a letter.

Remus held out his arm. Becus drifted to the arm and have Remus an affectionate squeeze with his talons.

"Thank you, Becus," Remus cooed giving the owl a treat from his pocket. Remus slipped the two letters off of the extended foot and Becus flew off with another soft hoot.

James, Sirius, and Peter did not even notice that Remus had stopped. The three of them continued to the Great Hall, leaving their friend in front of the doors.

_Remus,_

_You give terrible advice. The girls in my dorm do not agree with your approach at all. I, however, will humour you. If he does not approach me soon then I will have to hunt you down._

_Always,_

_Becky_

_P.S. My mum should be sending you a letter today (if you have not already received it). Mum said today was the day you would be waiting for your early birthday gift. I wish I could say I helped pick it out, but mum would say it was of her own creation and I am not allowed to take credit. I think I am allowed some credit because it is a fabulous gift if I do say so myself...then again I may be a little bias. Just so you know I plan on reaping the benefits of the gift the next time I see you. So be warned._

Remus smiled as he finished the letter. He was glad Becky was going to respect his 'advice' and he couldn't help, but smile wider because of the post script.

After a couple of seconds, Remus opened the second letter. It was the letter from Becky's mum that was mentioned in the previous letter.

_Remus,_

_I know your birthday isn't for a couple more months, but I thought of something a while ago that I thought would be good for you at school. And lucky you, I just got noticed of its arrival! Your headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, has kindly allowed for me to set up your gift exchange. However, it was too large for an owl to carry (at least Becky insisted it was). If you wouldn't mind picking the gift up at the edge of the grounds by the gates. Dumbledore assures me that that location is the best place for the drop-off. After dinner, say around 8 would be ideal._

_Much love to you, Remus_

_Love Mama Nancy_

_P.S. Becky informs me it is something you should really like. However, if you don't like it she will hunt you down. She said a few other things after that, but I prefer not to disclose what she actually said. She certainly did not learn that type of language from me._

Remus laughed. He could only imagine what Becky had said to her mother.

He walked into the Great Hall, but was too distracted to eat. His mind was swarming with ways to distract his friends and get away from them so he could go to the gates alone. Perhaps he could distract them with a prank plan.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

Remus arrived at the Hogwarts gates ten minutes before the designated time he was supposed to pick up his birthday gift. He didn't have to distract his friends at all. James had to go do some Head Boy stuff with Lily (James was thrilled), Sirius said he had a date (even though he swore off girls), and in true Peter fashion he disappeared (probably to the kitchens).

Remus wondered why Nancy wanted him to pick it up at the gates. What an earth could she be sending that an owl couldn't deliver? He hoped he didn't have to wait long due to the unusual chill in the air for early September.

At five minutes before the hour Remus saw an owl swoop in. Becus. He held out his arm for the creature to perch. Its majestic wings splayed out as it came in for its landing, with only the tips of its wings fluttering as it landed. Once the owl was secure on Remus' arm, it kicked out its leg revealing a letter attached.

With one hand, Remus quickly untied the letter. The owl gave a soft hoot before soaring off into the sky once again.

_Remus,_

_ I'm sorry. I couldn't listen to your advice. I have to talk to him._

_Always,_

_Becky_

"It was pretty terrible advice if you ask me."

Remus quickly turned around at the sound of the voice behind him.

He took in the yellow and black clad figure. A Hufflepuff insignia decorated her robes. Remus smiled immediately and rushed over to the girl, wrapping her in his arms and spinning her in circles.

"Becky."

* * *

**A/N: So is do you think Becky is a witch or a muggle? Hahaha :-)**

**Thank you to everyone who reveiwed, favourited, and followed. I am so happy to see how many of you have stuck it out with me this far.**

**Becky's point of view during the next chapter. Feel free to review if you have an questions or comments. **

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	18. Chapter 18: Lost with Terrible Advice

**Chapter 18**

* * *

***Becky, age 11***

The envelope sat in Becky's hand. There was no indication that it had come from the post man. The only clue to where it had come from was the elegant seal of a white horse guiding a carriage through a cloud. Surrounding the wax seal were the words "Beauxboton's Academy of Magic."

Becky carefully slid her finger under the seal and ripped the envelope open. She pulled the light weight paper out of its wrapping. The paper was so thin, Becky was worried she was going to rip the elegant words.

As Becky read the letter she could only pick out a few words.

'_Dear Rebecca Elsie James-Fourneir...academy...books...classes begin the 25__th__ of August...Sincerely, Madam Brigitte Lemoine.'_

Becky whimpered a bit because she couldn't read the majority of the letter and her mother wouldn't be any help. Her grandmother had taught her some French, but Becky didn't spend enough time with her to get a full education of the language.

With a quick thought, Becky scooped up all of her scattered papers and rushed out of the house. Remus would know what to do. He may only be a year older than her, but he always seemed to be able to help.

"Good afternoon, Becky," Jane said when Becky walked through the door. "Remus is upstairs. He's still sleeping, he had a difficult time sleeping last night."

"Oh," Becky said with a sigh. "I was hoping he could help me with something since my mum isn't home right now."

"Maybe I could be of some assistance," Jane said, ushering Becky into the living room. "Sit down, sweetheart."

Becky nodded as she sat down next to Jane on the couch. She handed Jane the small pile of papers. "I can't read this, but I know it is talking about a school. Do you know what Beauxbatons is or where it is?"

Jane immediately straightened. "Beauxbatons? You got a letter from there? I would have though you would have been accepted to Hog—nevermind. This is a very good school."

"You know it?"

"I know of it. It's a school similar to the one I went to when I was your age."

"Well, what does it say," Becky wondered.

"Wait here for a moment. I have something that may be able to help us read this," Jane left the room. She was only gone for a couple of minutes, but when she returned she was carrying a large worn book.

"You have a French-English dictionary here," Becky asked when she saw the book.

Jane laughed slightly as she flipped through the pages. "Not exactly."

Becky leaned in closer to see the book. When she looked at the pages Jane was flipping through she saw words she didn't recognize.

"Is that magic?"

"Yes, it is."

"But you never do magic in front of me."

"I think this letter will explain why I don't," Jane said. "Ah, here's the spell I was looking for."

Jane pulled her wand out of the binding of the book. She pointed at the papers and did a couple of flicks with her wand, "Interpretari."

The letters on the page began to swirl and twist. Each letter seemed to rearrange itself creating new sentences.

Becky was fascinated by the act of magic. She had only seen Jane perform such as task once and that was by accident. Jane was normally very careful not to perform any magic in front of Becky even though she knew Laurent, Becky's father, was a wizard.

When everything was done moving around on the page, every word was in English and Becky was smiling like a fool. "That was amazing, Jane."

Jane smiled and pushed the letter in Becky's direction. "If you think that is amazing, read the letter."

Becky read...

'_Dear Miss Rebecca Elsie James-Fourneir,_

_We are delighted to inform you that you have been accepted into the Beauxbatons academy of Magic for young witches and wizards. Should you accept, you will join the young witches in Beauxbatons Hall North. Your classes will begin the 25__th__ of August._

_A list of items and books needed for the start of term are included._

_Please send a letter of acceptance by August 1__st__._

_Sincerely,  
__Madam Brigitte Lemoine_

Becky stared wide eyed at the page. She read it a couple of times because she still couldn't believe what it was saying.

"I'm a witch," Becky questioned looking into Jane's smiling face.

"Congratulations, sweetheart," Jane said.

"I'm a witch! I can do magic like you and Remus," Becky screamed. She launched herself happily at Jane and gave her a tight hug.

* * *

***Current Time at Hogwarts***

"So how do you like your first week of classes at Hogwarts?"

"Huh," Becky said. She turned to her left to see a head of red hair to her right. "Oh, hello, Lily. It's going well so far."

"Is there anything I can do for you? You seem a little lost," Lily replied. She glanced at the new student and took in the girl's worried expression. Lily knew she was probably headed somewhere, but got a little turned around in the process.

Becky looked around. She had no idea where she was and not many students were wandering around since it was a Saturday morning. She was extremely grateful the Head-Girl had come along when she did, otherwise Becky may have been lost for hours or worse run into Remus before the designated time she was supposed to surprise him.

"Yes," Becky said with a shy smile. "I think I took a wrong turn out of my dorm. I told my dorm-mates I would meet them in the Great Hall, but I don't quite have my bearings inside the school yet."

"Well, I'm headed back to my dorm, but the Great Hall in on my way. I'll walk you there," Lily said sending a comforting smile back to Becky. "I know how difficult it was my first year trying to find my way around. Once I ended up in a broom closet in the dungeons because I thought it was a stairway to the library. Don't ask me how that happened or why I thought that. I blame it on being a nervous first year."

"Hogwarts is quite impressive. Beauxbatons is all one level so it isn't as easy to get lost," Becky explained as she walked with Lily to the Great Hall. "The North portion of the school is reserved for the girl's academy and the South side is where they boys stay. Our dining hall is in the centre. It's the only place where we are allowed to mix or do any 'purpling'."

"What's 'purpling'," Lily asked confused by the strange word. "Does that mean you don't have any co-ed classes?"

Becky's cheeks turned slightly pink. She didn't realize separated classes were such as big deal so she got a little flustered. "Nous ne sommes pas authorisés à dans notre école."

Lily just gave Becky even more of a confused look as the new girl began to ramble in French.

"Les gars sont bleus, les filles sont roses, et ensemble ils font du violet. Alros pas de 'purpling'."

"Becky, er, what? I have no idea what you just said. I don't know much French."

"Sorry," Becky said, her cheeks becoming redder. "What I meant to say was, we are not allowed to do any 'purpling' at my school. Guys are blue, girls are pink, and together they make purple. So no purpling."

"Purpling," Lily laughed now that she kind of understood the phrase. "I'm so glad you were able to get away from that school. It sounds ridiculous what they teach you. You don't have interaction with any boys?"

"Only during meals," Becky explained. "But I do write to my best friend on a regular basis. He's male."

"Does he know you're a witch?"

"Of course. He's the reason I can to Hogwarts in the first place."

As soon as Lily and Becky turned a corner a group of yellow and black clad girls began running in Becky and Lily's direction.

"Becca," they all yelled coming to a halt in front of the Head Girl and her new companion.

"We thought you weren't coming to lunch," a girl with raven hair and large doe brown eyes exclaimed. Her arms were flailing dramatically above her head as she talked.

"It's nearly over," a second girl with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes continued. She looped her arm in Becky's and pulled her into the group closer to the Great Hall doors.

"Lucky Lily found you otherwise we would have had to talk to the marauders…" the third girl also had dark brown hair. Her eyes were the bluest colour Becky had ever seen.

"No," Becky and Lily said at the same time.

"What's wrong with the marauders," the raven haired girl asked cocking her eyebrow and placing her hands on her hips.

"Nothing, Mellissa. I can't…I mean, I wouldn't want to bother them," Becky said.

Lily looked at Becky and then gasped. "One of them wouldn't happen to be your…"

"Crush," Sasha, the girl with the bright blue eyes, giggled. "Becky can't stop staring at them during meals."

Lily smiled. "Well, I've got to go. If you need any more help or the Gryffindor password let me know."

Becky groaned in frustration. She didn't understand why people always seemed to pick on her about boys.

Just as Lily walked out of sight, Becky tugged her arm out of her friends hold. She took a couple of steps towards the door but instantly regretted the action when she felt someone crash into her side. She and who ever had run into her went tumbling to the floor.

Becky tried to catch herself, but was unsuccessful because the larger person, who Becky discovered was a boy in Gryffindor colours, fell on top of her.

The boy looked down into Becky's eyes and he turned bright red. As soon as he saw he was on top of a girl he tried to scramble to his feet. His first attempt failed and he fell on top of Becky again which caused Becky to let out a shocked 'oof'. The boy's second attempt was more successful, but only because his companion grabbed the poor boy by the back of the robes and hoisted him onto his feet.

Becky recognized the boy as Peter Pettigrew, Remus' friend. Before she could say anything to him as a greeting, Peter took off down the hall, the taller boy with handsome features and jet black hair jogged after Peter, laughing.

"Oh Merlin! Are you hurt," Allie, Becky's friend, asked. Her brown hair and dark blue eyes bobbed into Becky's visual field when she pulled Becky up from the ground. "I can't believe Peter Pettigrew just tried to kill you. Maybe you should stop staring at them during meals."

"I'm fine and I don't stare at them during meals," Becky scoffed even though she knew her friends were right. She constantly looked over at Remus during meals because she had to make sure he hadn't noticed her yet.

The four girls walked into the nearly empty Great Hall. Each table was scattered with bits of food and empty dishes with crumbs clinging to their flat surfaces. The girls had to do a bit of searching before they found four unused plates.

One plate was found on the Gryffindor table, one on the Ravenclaw table, and two were luckily found on the Hufflepuff table. They would have searched the Slytherin table, which was the closest, but they were worried the Slytherins would have done something to the plates. Plus there were still a couple of Slytherins eating and the girls didn't want to chance getting cursed.

Just before Mellissa, Allie, Sasha, and Becky were ready to leave, a large owl swooped down to join them. He landed a little ungracefully on Becky shoulder, wobbling a little to keep his balance.

Becky stuck out her arm to give the winged creature more surface area on which he could perch.

"Becus," Becky cooed, stroking the large owl's feathers. His grey feathers shivered at Becky's touch and he made soft breathy 'hoo' sounds.

"What have you got for me," Becky said nuzzling into Becus, who immediately stuck out his foot with a letter attached.

Becky untied the letter and patted the table next to her plate. Becus happily hopped off of Becky's shoulder and landed on the table with a "thunk". He picked at the leftover crusts of food Becky offered him from her serving dish, while Becky read her letter.

While reading the letter, Becky made sure to hide the senders name from her friends because she didn't want word to get out about her knowing Remus, at least not yet. She knew in a school this size the rumours would spread fast and furious.

"Boys give terrible advice," Allie said looking over Becky's shoulder. "If you want to talk to a boy you should be able to go up to him and talk. Don't wait for him to come to you."

"Some bloke told you not to chat up the marauders," Sasha asked. "I agree, that's ridiculous advice. If you want to chat up a boy go for it, don't listen to mystery boy's advice."

"Why won't you tell us who this 'mystery boy' is anyway," Allie asked. "You've been writing to him all week. We're dying to know about him."

"It's a bit complicated," Becky said absentmindedly stroking Becus again. "He doesn't know I'm here and I don't want rumours to get started before I have a chance to tell him."

"Well, we know he's not a Hufflepuff otherwise you would be spending time with him and not with us," Mellissa decided tapping her chin as if she was solving some challenging enigma.

Becky just shook her head pulling some parchment and a self-inking quill out of her robes. She wrote a quick reply.

_Remus,_

_You give terrible advice. The girls in my dorm do not agree with your approach at all. I, however, will humour you. If he does not approach me soon, then I will have to hunt you down._

_Always,_

_Becky_

She knew it was wrong of her to infer she liked someone else, but she desperately hoped he would realize she was talking about him the whole time.

Everything she said in her last letter was true. Remus' mannerisms were different here at Hogwarts and it fascinated Becky. He was quite, more reserved. He hardly spoke unless someone spoke to him first, unless it was his fellow marauders and even then he mostly kept to himself.

Girls would try to talk to him and he would just nod along with what they were saying. He didn't wink at any girls like he would do at home and he wouldn't touch them gently on the arm like he did with her. This was not the Remus she grew up with.

Becky finished the letter with a post script talking about the letter from her mother.

_P.S. My mum should be sending you a letter today (if you have not already received it). Mum said today was the day you would be waiting for your early birthday gift. I wish I could say I helped pick it out, but mum would say it was of her own creation and I am not allowed to take credit. I think I am allowed some credit because it is a fabulous gift if I do say so myself...then again I may be a little bias. Just so you know I plan on reaping the benefits of the gift the next time I see you. So be warned._

Nancy had already sent the letter to Becky, who was supposed to have Becus deliver it the day Remus was supposed to go to the Hogwarts gates to receive his 'early birthday gift.'

The plan was for Becky to meet Remus out at the gates a few minutes after eight.

"Becus, could you please wait a couple of hours before you deliver these letters," Becky told the large grey barn owl. "You know who to deliver them to."

Becus gave a soft affectionate hoot before taking flight and disappearing behind the enchanted ceiling.

"Yeah, Becus. Go send those letters to mystery boy," Mellissa called after him.

"C'mon, let's go," Becky rolled her eyes at her friend's antics.

**oOoOoOoOo**

The girls had teased Becky the rest of the afternoon. After they had finished lunch they all went back to the dorm, but they wouldn't get off the topic of Becky's 'mystery boy.' They had spent most of the afternoon theorizing about who he could be. Abby and Mary, the remaining two girls who shared the sixth year Hufflepuff dorm room had joined in a couple of hours before dinner.

At dinner, Becky's friends kept looking around the Great Hall pointing out people who they thought could be the person Becky was writing to. It had gotten to the point that they had theorized that Becky had been writing to professor Dumbledore the entire time, but they were using teenager code so no one would find out that she was Dumbledore's long lost granddaughter, which Becky tried to assure them was not true.

Just before eight, Becky was able to slip away from her friends. Lucky for her they had grown bored by this time and they had all gone their separate ways.

Becky left her common room and made her way towards the entrance hall. She was impressed with herself when she stood staring at the large wooden doors that would take her outside. She hadn't gotten lost.

When she opened the doors the crisp air hit her instantly. She shivered a little bit at the shock of the unusual cold and wrapped her robes tighter around her frame.

When she walked further onto the Hogwarts grounds she was stopped by a soft hoot. Becus greeted her from a nearby rock.

Upon seeing the owl, Becky was struck with an idea. She stuck her arm out, which Becus happily perched on once again.

"Are you up for sending another letter," Becky asked him.

Becus gave a hoot and shifted his feet as a reply. Becky knew this to mean 'yes' in Becus speak. She quickly pulled out some parchment and her quill, a habit she acquired from sending so many letters back and forth with Remus.

_Remus,_

_ I'm sorry. I couldn't listen to your advice. I have to talk to him._

_Always,_

_Becky_

As soon as the letter was attached Becus took off for the gates where he had seen Remus waiting.

Becky could see the owl land on someone not too far ahead of her. The person had their back turned away from Becky's direction, but she immediately knew the person was Remus.

She couldn't help, but smile when she saw him, even if it was his back. She had missed him so much over the past few days and it was even more difficult knowing he was right there the whole time. However, her mother, Jane, and her thought it would be even more of a surprise if Becky didn't reveal herself right away. Let him start to miss her first.

Remus had untied the letter allowing Becus to fly off. Becky was only a couple of metres behind Remus as he read the letter.

"It was pretty terrible advice, if you asked me," Becky said. She couldn't help, but smile as she said it.

At the sound of her voice Remus immediately turned around. He wasted hardly any time before grabbing Becky in his arms and spinning her around.

"Becky," Remus laughed as he continued to spin her.

"Happy early birthday," Becky replied. Her smile increased as she spun and laugher spilled out with every rotation.

It took a couple of minutes for Remus to stop spinning. As soon as he stopped he dizzily collapsed onto the ground bringing Becky down with him.

The two were sprawled out on the ground, breathing heavily, with giant grins plastered on their faces.

"I can't believe you're here," Remus said brushing some hair out of Becky's face. "I can't stop smiling. You don't know how amazing it is to have you here...with me."

"You're not mad our mothers and I kept this from you," Becky questioned, reviling in Remus soft touch on her face.

"Of course not," Remus said while his fingers lingered on Becky's jaw. "Even if I was, I don't think I would be mad for long because you're here...with me."

Becky chuckled breathily, "you said that already."

"Yeah, I did, didn't I," Remus murmured as his face was getting closer to Becky's.

"Yeah," Becky whispered. Her eyes fluttered closed right before she felt Remus press a firm kiss that moulded to her lips. She returned his kiss. Then she pulled away to catch her breath.

"I am so glad Peter didn't do that when he fell on top of me earlier today," Becky said with laugher in her voice.

"That was you," Remus questioned. He immediately pushed off the ground into a standing position and began marching back towards the castle. "He didn't even apologize to you. I'm going to kill him. I'll make him apologize."

Before Remus could get very far, Becky had grabbed his hand causing him to turn back to look at her. She reached up and kissed him again as a distraction that would hopefully keep him from killing one of his best friends.

The distraction worked like a charm.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, and favourited! It was really fun to see everyone's reactions to Becky being meeting Remus at the gates!**

**I would also like to thank EchoNiffler367 who translated my very strange 'purpling' sentences from English to French. 'Purpling' was a phrase I heard a few years back at a teen service club convention. They were trying to tell us we weren't allowed to go into anyone's room who was of the opposite sex and they came up with the whole 'purpling' idea.**

**Prepare for some interactions with at least one of the maruaders next chapter ;-)**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	19. Chapter 19: The Library Waits for No One

**Chapter 19**

* * *

***Remus: Sixth Year at Hogwarts***

Remus had been pacing in front of his bed for about 10 minutes. He finished reading a letter from Becky and his heart wouldn't stop beating at a rapid pace. The rapid heartbeat was happening more and more often; it was happening every time he read a letter from Becky and he couldn't stop smiling. Finally, he decided he needed to ask someone about these strange symptoms. He didn't want to ask his dorm mates because he knew they would tear him a new one.

The next person who came to mind was Lily. Remus was friendly with her and he thought it might be better to get an unbiased opinion.

Remus rushed out of his dorm and down the stairs to the common room where he found Lily alone on one of the over-sized red couches. Dinner was still going on and most students were down in the Great Hall savouring their crumbs of shepard's pie and pumpkin juice.

"Lily, could I trouble you for some advice," Remus asked. His smile had not yet faded from reading the latest letter.

Lily looked up from her book and nodded noticing his almost dreamy smile. "Sure, Remus. What can I help you with?"

"There's this girl—"

"I can tell," Lily interrupted, referring to Remus' still smiling face. "I don't think I have ever seen you smile like that."

Remus immediately rubbed his cheeks in an attempt at relaxing his muscles. It worked a little, but his lips were still quirked up slightly.

"So there's a girl," Lily pressed, closing her book and patting the couch beside her.

Remus sat down next to Lily with a heavy sigh. "I've been owling back and forth with a friend of mine; my next door neighbour, actually. We've been doing this for a few years now and it wasn't until recently that I started feeling differently when I read her letters."

"Differently how," Lily asked in a comforting way.

"I can feel my heart pounding in my chest as I read her letters and I can't stop smiling," Remus explained. He kept his head down and refused to look the red head in the eye. "I've liked her for a while now, but this feels different."

Lily smiled softly. "You're in love with her."

The answer was simple and obvious and yet Remus had always brushed it aside when his friends teased him about it. However, hearing those words being uttered by Lily were completely different.

Remus looked up from his lap. "Are you sure?"

"Is anyone ever sure," Lily retorted, the soft smile and understanding green eyes penetrated Remus' confused brain.

It all seemed more real coming from Lily; more like the truth. Remus Lupin was in love with his best friend.

* * *

***Current time: Hogwarts***

It was officially the second week of term and Becky was finally starting to find her way around the castle without getting lost every time she ventured out of her dorm. She was on her way to the library to do some much needed studying. Beauxbatons may be one of the top magic schools in Europe, but they had nothing on the Hogwarts curriculum.

Becky was hurrying up the stairs when someone stopped right in front of her. Becky nearly tumbled backwards into the trick step below her. Luckily the person who abruptly stopped her, grabbed her and prevented her from getting stuck.

"Sirius Black. You must be new."

"To Hogwarts, yes." Becky looked up into the face of a very handsome male with glossy raven hair and shinning grey eyes.

"Have we met before because you look really familiar?"

"You are not the first person to say I look familiar. I must just have one of those faces," Becky said.

In truth she thought Sirius looked familiar as well. Sure, she had seen a couple of pictures of him with Remus and their other two friends, but there was something about standing in front of Sirius that brought forth something in the back of her mind.

"You're the one Pete knocked down," Sirius chuckled remembering Becky as the Hufflepuff girl from the week. "I'm so sorry about him. He's a bit awkward when it comes to talking to girls and, well, falling on one is not something I ever thought I would have the pleasure of seeing."

So that's where Becky remembered him from. He was the one who pulled Peter off of her when she was knocked down.

"I'm so glad you enjoy the embarrassment of your friends. I'm fine, by the way," Becky quipped. She smiled to let Sirius know she had not hard feelings about the whole situation.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Good to hear you weren't hurt."

"I didn't say I wasn't hurt. I may not have any physical bruises, but I might be emotionally scarred for the rest of my life."

Sirius laughed. "I like you. You've got some wit. What year are you?"

"Sixth."

"Ah, sixth year. What a great year. I'm in Seventh myself."

"I know."

"You know? How on Merlin's great earth could you know that?"

This time Becky laughed. "Well, I have been around for about two weeks now And anyone can see that you are one of the most popular people here. Not to mention, the girls in Hufflepuff are quite the gossips. They may be know for their loyalty and kindness but they do love their gossip and they told me to steer clear of the heartbreakers of Hogwarts."

"Oh, right. We have gotten that reputation, but it's not because of—"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. I have learned not to go after handsome guys unless they show an interest in me first. Years of trailing after the same guy without so much as a 'I want to be more than friends' really puts a damper on a person's ego. Persistence does pay off eventually I suppose."

"Don't tell that to my friend, James Potter. He runs around this place after Lily Evans and she won't give him the time of day. I must admit it is great entertainment. Free showing of their dynamic love tomorrow morning during breakfast. Evans is especially fiery in the mornings."

Becky laughed again. "As in Head-Boy James Potter and Head-Girl Lily Evans?"

"The very same," Sirius replied. "I suppose being new you've had the pleasure of meeting them already."

"Yes, a couple of times," Becky nodded. "I was reacquainted with James on the train. We met in Diagon Alley a few weeks ago when a friend's mum was helping me pick up my books and robes. I met Lily on platform 9 1/3. She's the one who helped me get settled."

"Well, you should get to breakfast early then as to not miss the excitement," Sirius said with a smirk.

"I will be sure to look for it. The hufflepuff table is a bit quite some excitement might do it some good," Becky heard some bell chime somewhere in the castle. "Oops, I am running a bit late, if you excuse me, Sirius, I must be on my way. I am meeting someone."

"Wait, I didn't catch your name," Sirius said resting a hand on Becky's shoulder before she could step around him.

"Rebecca," Becky replied. Normally she wasn't fond of being called by her full name. However, when it came to meeting Remus' friends she felt inclined to introduce herself as Rebecca and not Becky out of respect for Remus' need of not allowing her to meet his friends.

"Rebecca? As in the girl who threw James' books into a puddle in Diagon Alley," Sirius inquired with a grin that reached his eyes.

Becky nodded hesitantly. "I didn't throw anything. However, I may have been the cause of some books being dropped into a pool of water while it was raining."

"Potato, Tomoto," Sirius shrugged. Becky opened her mouth to tell Sirius he got the expression wrong, but he continued talking before she correct him. "So, Rebecca, have you ever been to a Quidditch match? There's nothing like a Hogwarts house match."

"I thought you swore off girls," Becky muttered with a smile as Sirius flung his arm around her shoulders.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. See you around, Sirius," Becky said as she shrugged Sirius' arm off. She tried to get around him, but he stopped her once again.

"Oh no you don't," Sirius grabbed Becky's arm. "How did you know that I swore off girls? I only told my friends that."

Becky's eyes widened when she realized it was Remus who told her. Thinking quickly, Becky replied, "Rumours get around. Even the new girl can pick up things without even trying."

"Ah, so one of my friends told you," Sirius said noticing the change in Becky's eye size. He peered straight into her eyes as he interrogated her. "Who was it? James? Peter? Remus? It must have been Pete. He can't resist a pretty girl's smile. Then again what self respecting man can?"

"If I say yes, would you believe me?"

"I guess not. So that leaves James or Remus."

"Who said it was one of them? Rumours tend to have unknown sources," Becky stated as she slipped out of Sirius' grasp. "Now, really, Sirius, I have to go. The library waits for no one."

"You sound exactly like my friend, Remus. Don't mean I have forgotten about this. I will find out who told you I was swearing off girls."

"Secrets don't say secrets for long in a place like this, Sirius," Becky hastily replied. "It was just a rumour; a bit of gossip."

"Some secrets can be kept, even here," was the last thing Sirius said before he allowed Becky to pass. She had a feeling Sirius wasn't talking only about him swearing off girls but she wasn't about to ask about something that wasn't her business.

A few minutes later Becky arrived at the library found Remus sitting at a table by the windows. He looked up from his notes as she sat down.

"You know, yellow isn't really your colour," Remus said with a smile. He reached over and tugged on Becky's tie.

Becky scoffed and slapped Remus' hand away from her wardrobe. "It wasn't my choice to be placed in Hufflepuff. Besides, I never thought you were a red person anyway."

"Aw, but you have to admit I make this colour scheme look good," Remus flirted.

"You wish."

"Why, Becky Fourneir, I am offended that you would think so low of me. I happen to be one of the most wanted people at Hogwarts. People wouldn't think such a thing if I didn't look this good in red and gold."

"You have been spending too much time with Sirius and James."

"How would you know?"

"Well, you are always telling me how the boys hit on anything with legs and that they think of themselves almost as gods. And besides, before I got here I got a dose of Sirius."

"You met Sirius," Remus' smile immediately dropped and he groaned. "Oh, Merlin, what did he say? You didn't tell him your name did you?"

"He asked if we had met before because I looked familiar and if I was interested in watching a Quidditch match."

"What did you say?"

"I told him that he was extremely dreamy and I as long as he in the Quidditch star then I would love to watch. I also told him that my name was Becky and I am having a secret relationship with one of his best friends."

"Becky!" Remus exclaimed.

"Oh, honestly, Remus," Becky laughed looking around the library to make sure no one was listening in on their ridiculous conversation. "You know me better than that. Besides, no one is dreamer than you."

Remus felt his face heating up slightly. He quickly started riffling through the bag next to him for something, hoping Becky wouldn't see his heated cheeks.

"Yes, Becky, I know you well," Remus murmured not daring to look up at Becky. "What did you really tell him?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself," Becky said and then she started frantically waving behind him. "Hi, Sirius!"

"What!" Remus turned so quickly he knocked his ink bottle over. When he looked behind him he saw no one. However, he did hear laugher coming from the direction he had previously been facing.

"Rebecca," Remus growled.

"I'm sorry," Becky snickered. "You should have seen how worried you were that one of your friends might actually meet me before your designated time and place."

"I'm not that bad," Remus said waving his wand and cleaning up the spilled ink. "I don't plan things out that much."

"If you don't plan things out then what are you working on? Is this a weekly schedule," Becky lunged for Remus' parchment, but he was too fast for her. He grabbed it before she could even reach out.

"No," Remus replied sheepishly.

"It is," Becky laughed when she saw the title written at the top of the page in Remus' personal script. "Who are you and what have you done with the unscheduled Remus I have know most of my life."

"It's different here," Remus explained. "You have to keep organized if you want to keep from being buried in work."

"Look at you being all wise and knowledgeable," Becky smiled teasingly. "Honestly, I don't remember you ever being this prepared for anything."

"The reason being, you bring the slob in me out," Remus smirked. His eyes were dancing in amusement when he saw Becky's amused grin in return.

"You're—"

Becky didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because Remus cut her off by capturing her lips with his. The kiss ended as soon as it began and Remus when back to his notes.

"Arse," Becky whined just as an audible gasp was heard not far from the table.

Both Becky and Remus looked up to see Lily standing there, eyes wide and hands covering her mouth.

"I knew it," Lily said a large smile finding its way onto her face. "You're the girl Remus has been writing to this entire time."

"You've told people about me, but you won't let me meet them," Becky looked over at Remus before hitting him in the back of the head with an open fist.

"Ow," Remus cried. "Lily this is Becky Fourneir. Becky this is Lily Evans. There, now I've introduced the two of you."

"We've already met," Becky said crossing her arms across her chest.

"Then why did you hit me," Remus asked rubbing the back of his head.

Becky rolled her eyes in reply.

Lily's bright green eyes stared widely at the couple. She had never seen Remus act so care free; not even when he was with his fellow marauders. And then Remus kissed Becky, the new girl. Lily never thought she would see Remus act so unlike his normal quite, reserved self.

"Lily, I would appreciate if you didn't tell anyone about this," Remus said with pleading eyes. "Especially, my friends. They'll never let me hear the end of it."

"She is the one you've been conversing with over the past seven years right," Lily questioned. Then she turned to Becky. "You're the one, yes?"

Becky nodded. "Yes, Remus and I have been writing back and forth ever since he began Hogwarts."

Lily squealed in excitement. "It's so nice to finally meet you!"

* * *

**A/N: Thank you once again to everyone to reviewed, favourited, and followed. Without all of you this story would have ended up completely different; you've all helped me change it for the better!**

**So Becky has officially met all the marauders, but they still haven't made the connection on who she is and why she is at Hogwarts. More to come on Sirius finding out who mentioned him 'swearing off girls' and Becky getting strange letters from someone who claims to be Remus ;-)**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	20. Chapter 20: Love Letters are Fun Indeed

**Chapter 20**

* * *

***Becky age six; A bedtime story***

"Tell it to me again, mama," little six year old Becky begged as she bounced on her mother's knee. Her little pig-tail she loved to wear on top of her head bounced with a slightly off rhythm from the rest of her tiny body.

Nancy smiled at her daughter's excitement about the story she just finished telling. "Fine. I'll tell it to you one more time," Nancy said tapping Becky's nose affectionately with her finger. "Then, it's off to bed."

Becky nodded enthusiastically at the promise of prolonging bed with one more telling of the story.

" Well, it all started because a case of curiosity on my part," Nancy began her tale as she started to gently pull the rubber bungees out of Becky's hair. "We had met at gallery in France, where your grandmere had set up a showcase for his artwork. I had just finished a lunch date with a couple of girl friends and was on my way back to my flat. As I walking I saw the most beautiful painting in a window. I knew the building housed a small gallery on the upper floors, but I had never had much interest to go inside before. However, this painting seem to draw me in, the colouring of it and they way you could see the brush strokes in the dried paint fascinated me. Below, the painting was a small advertisement for the art showcase. For curiosity sake, I ventured into the building to look at the other artwork done by this unknown artist."

Becky gave off a quiet squeak of excitement as her mother talked and nestled even further into her mother's form. Becky really did love listening to her mother tell stories about the past.

Nancy continued to brush the tangles out of Becky's hair, only breaking from her story long enough to let out a soft chuckle.

"There were only a few people in the space and each one of them was staring at some kind of art on the wall. I took a pamphlet by the door and began my rotation around the room. When I was on the fifth or sixth painting, a man came up behind me. He didn't say anything at first, but just stood there, studying the painting. I must have sighed or crinkled my nose or something because this seemed to prompt him to ask what I thought about it. I didn't think anything of it, just a friendly stranger interested in art, so I explained that it wasn't my taste.

"I continued on and the man continued to stare at the painting I had left. I had almost made my way around the entire room when the same man finally caught up with me again. He said he saw what I meant about the one painting and decided it wasn't his favourite either. We got to talking about our opinions and interpretations about the art.

"Before I left, he told me it was a pleasure meeting me and asked if we could have dinner at a later date. I agreed and left the gallery making sure to admire the painting in the window one last time. The name at the bottom of the painting caught my eye, Laurent Fournier, the man I had just met."

"Daddy," Becky exclaimed.

"Yes, Baby Girl. It was your daddy," Nancy smiled as she hoisted the young girl off her lap and gently placed the girl under the covers of the bed.

"A couple of weeks later, I still had not heard from Laurent, so I assumed it wasn't meant to be. However, one day when I was returning to my flat after work, I a large object leaning against my door. It was beautiful painting from the window and on the back side there was something written." Nancy stood from her spot and walked to the head of Becky's bed. She removed the painting from the wall and began to read the words inscribed on the back side of the canvas.

"_It is not every day you find someone who appreciates the simplicity of a brush stroke. However, it is every day that I think about a 'someone' who finds the beauty in that simplicity._

_Nancy James, please join me of dinner at Le Marcus' at 6pm on Friday evening._

_Always, Laurent Fournier_

* * *

**_*Current __Time;__ Hogwarts__*_**

_Dearest Becky,_

_I have been thinking since my last letter to you and the formality we have with our letters does not seem to be enough. It is getting more and more difficult sitting here, writing to you, and not being able to see you whenever I feel the need to like I was able to do over the summer. Our distance, yet closeness, is making me go mad. I feel a pull towards you. I can only hope you can sense a similar pull. I fear I am unable to completely express what I am trying to say, but it is my hope I will be able to do so in due time._

_It is my sincerest hope your schooling has been successful. I know you were having problems with your dorm-mates last year, but if anyone causes you grief this year I will be by your side immediately if not physically, but in spirit at the very least._

_As for me, classes continue to go well. I spend most of my time locked away in the library studying in order to have some space from my own room-mates. But of course you know all about the antics of Sirius, James, and Peter._

_Forever yours,_

_Remus_

Becky stared at the letter in her hand as she sat on her bed with her curtains drawn for a bit of privacy. The letter confused her; it did not sound like the Remus she knew at all. However, the scrawl of the lettering appeared to be written by him.

At first, Becky thought Remus was just trying to be funny since they had seen each other only an hour before. However, the whole letter was simply curious.

In frustration, Becky pulled her curtains aside to look at Mellissa who resided in the bed next to hers. Mellissa, in a lounging position and magazine poised on her stomach, looked over towards Becky when she saw the fabric move away from her new friend's bed.

"What's with the face," Mellissa asked sitting up a little bit straighter.

"Do you know of any spells that can change a person's writing," Becky inquired.

"Let me guess, you've always done your own work, but now that you are in a new school you think you can get away with stealing someone's essay," Mellissa teased throwing her Worldly Witchcraft magazine at Becky. "Shame on you."

"No," Becky laughed as the magazine landed lamely between the two beds. "They always had anti-cheating spells in place. Even if we did manage to find a spell to change handwriting the professors always checked our assignments for tampering magic."

"A paranoid bunch, the French are,"

"Not really. Beauxbatons had a cheating frenzy back when my father attended."

"I heard about that," Allie said, falling onto her stomach beside Mellissa. "My mum said she was dating a guy that attended Beauxbatons during that time. It was a giant mess. Student were suspended, professors getting sacked, it was quite the scandal. Was your dad one of the one's caught?"

"I'm not sure," Becky replied. Her eyes returned to the letter in her hands. "My father died when I was three. I never got the chance to hear about his life from his own mouth. Mum or grandmere were the ones who would tell me stories about him."

"Oh, Becky, we're so sorry," Mellissa said and Allie nodded along. "Do you have a favourite story about him?"

"Yeah, actually," Becky smiled leaning back on her hands. "I always loved the story my mum would tell, about when she met my father for the first time."

"I bet it was romantic," Sasha said while jumping onto Becky's bed and mirroring Allie's position. She felt a piece of paper crinkle under her stomach. "Hey, what's this?"

Becky tried to snatch it out of her friend's hand, but Sasha rolled off the bed, onto her feet, trying to keep the letter away from Becky.

"It's a love letter, from...ohhh, get this...Remus Lupin," Sasha yelled the last bit with a giddy look on her face. "Our new friend here has caught the eye of the quietest and most refined marauder."

Becky let out a snort because the Remus she knew was neither quiet nor refined. Then she looked at the face engulfing grins on her friend's faces and she could feel her own face heating up.

"I don't think that is from Remus," Becky murmured, her face still bright red from embarrassment. "That's why I need to know about the handwriting spell so I can figure out who sent it."

"What owl delivered the letter," Allie asked.

"Becus, that large gray owl," Becky replied.

"You mean to tell me, you received a letter from a person claiming to be Remus Lupin. Then you tell us _his_ owl delivered it and you still don't believe he wrote you that letter," Mellissa questioned. "Girl, all wands point to Remus Lupin."

"It's not from him," Becky countered. "It doesn't sound like him."

Right after she said it, Becky realized her fatal mistake. She had just openly admitted to knowing Remus Lupin, one of the four infamous marauders, on a more personal level.

All at once, three of the four girls in the room erupted in excited screams and began dancing around the dorm. Becky quickly bent forward, pressing her hands to her ears to muffle the sounds.

Quickly deciding what to do, Becky gathered her school bag and ran from the room. As soon as she was through the door, she could hear her dorm mates chase after her. With some crafty wand work, Becky was able to magically seal her friend's in the room in order to give her enough time to get out of the Hufflepuff dorm.

Becky raced through the halls, thankful for the empty halls of the evening. She bounded up multiple staircases and did not stop until she knew she was safe in the owlery.

Becky was greeted by Becus who flew down from his perch to sit beside his co-owner. The large owl stood by as Becky pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill from her bag as well as an owl treat from Becus.

'_Dear Remus,'_ Becky began her letter to the person who she was still sure was not Remus_. 'I have to admit your latest letter confused me. Must you always speak in such cryptic messages? If you have something to say to me just say it. You remember the last time you tried to be cryptic with me? I can make sure that happens again._

'_All in all, classes are going well. Nothing too exciting here. My dorm-mates are a little annoying today. I am hiding out, writing this letter to you so I don't have to listen to their nonsense._

'_I'm glad to hear nothing out of the ordinary is happening to you. I would say Sirius, James, and Peter would be something happening to you constantly so that doesn't seem to be out of the ordinary by any means. Good luck with them. Always, Becky_

Becky rolled up her letter and attached it to Becus' outstretched leg.

"Deliver this letter back to whoever sent it to me in the first place. Not Remus," Becky clarified, handing Becus another treat. "No rush on this delivery."

Becus gave a soft hoot and returned to his roost. Becky wandered around the room greeting some of the school owls on the lower shelves because she didn't feel like facing her room mates quite yet.

After a few minutes, someone came bustling into the owlery. He shook his dark hair and droplets of water went flying off in all directions.

Sirius heard soft shriek to his left and looked over to see Becky wiping some water off of her face. "Rebecca! I'm so sorry about that. I didn't expect anyone to be up here."

"It's alright, Sirius," Becky said as Becus flew down to where Sirius stood and held out his leg for the raven haired male.

Sirius pulled at the string around Becus' leg and unravelled the letter. "Thanks, mate."

'Sirius sent the letter,' Becky thought as she watched Sirius read the letter she had composed not long before. 'Oh, this was going to be entertaining.'

"Interesting," Sirius said before looking up at Becky. "You wouldn't happen to have parchment and ink you, by any chance?"

Becky dug into her bag once again withdrawing the items requested by Sirius.

"Anything interesting," Becky asked handing the materials over to the seventh year.

"Not really," Sirius replied. "I'm just writing to a friend."

Sirius stood thinking for a couple of beats before pressing the paper against the wall and scribbling his message. He pulled out his wand, tapped the paper with the end of it while muttering a short incantation. Becky watched as the writing on the page shifted causing Sirius' handwriting to change.

"Becus, my man, please deliver this reply," Sirius said to the grey owl waiting patiently on a pedestal between Sirius and Becky.

As soon as the letter was secure, Becus turned away from Sirius and gave Becky a confused hoot. Becky gave Becus another treat and shook her head. She didn't want Becus to deliver the letter to her right in front of Sirius because she hadn't had her fun yet.

"My friend's owl seems to have taken a liking to you," Sirius said as he handed the ink and quill back to Becky.

"Or it could be because I feed him," Becky suggested. She shrugged her bag back onto her shoulders.

Sirius laughed. "I suppose if you fed me, I would take a liking to you as well."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You do that," Sirius winked. "Thanks again for the parchment."

"No problem," Becky smiled as she watched Sirius saunter away.

Ah, yes. Writing to Sirius would be fun indeed.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you once again to everyone who reviewed, favourited, and/or followed. I love hearing what people think about the story!**

**Sorry about the lack of Remus in this chapter. I hoped Sirius would be a good substitute ;-)**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	21. Chapter 21: Game On

**Chapter 21**

* * *

***Becky thrid year at Beauxbatons***

"Get to class, get to class, get to class," Becky chanted to herself as she raced down the hall at top speed. She had overslept and now she was going to be late for class if she didn't hurry. If any of her classmates could see her running down the hall, they would be ashamed to admit this dishevelled girl had ever attended the proper and always put together school of Beauxbatons Academy.

Normally Becky wouldn't be up so late, but there were some disturbing sounds outside of her window. The haunting, sorrowful voices of a pack of wolves in the distance, disturbed her. Ever sense she was a little girl the sound of the wolf cry had scared her because she didn't know what the cries meant.

Becky thought the not knowing of the language was why she hardly made any friends here at Beauxbatons. She was scared at first about learning French because it was something unknown, like the unknown voices of the wolves she heard every so often.

Becky slipped into her seat in her transfiguration class right as the bells on the clock tower chimed its iridescent tune.

Before the shimmering sounds had concluded, Becky could hear the snickering of the other girls in her class. Like she had predicted, the girls were talking about her not being of proper French breeding.

What did proper French breeding mean anyway? Did that mean in order for Becky to fit in she had to have some Veela blood in her? She hoped not.

The class seemed to drone on. Becky tried her best to immerse herself in her note taking instead of listening to the snide comments of the other girls. Becky desparatly wished her friend Alexis, was in class with her, but seeing as Alexis was a year ahead they only had the school wide etiquette class and meals together.

As soon as the chimes of the clock could be heard, Becky was out of her seat and out the door before anyone could stop her. She moved as fast as she could to her fencing class where she would be able to hide behind a mask and not have to worry about the other girls talk about her dishevelled morning appearance.

Before Becky entered the fencing studio, she spotted a large grey owl sitting in one of the open windows. Becky was more than relieved to see Becus, with his heart shaped face and wise, yet affectionate, amber eyes.

It wasn't unusual for owls to deliver mail throughout the day instead of during a designated time. So it was nothing new to see Becus holding out his leg for Becky to take the letter before she entered a classroom.

_Becky,_

_So I found out today that I was only asked out by a girl because of some game she and her friends made up. I thought this girl actually liked me because Sirius was saying a bunch of Hufflepuff girls kept staring at me at meals. _

_ So when this Hufflepuff, who is a year below me, asked if I wanted to study, I nonchalantly agreed. You know, you have to play it cool with girls. You don't want them to think they are in charge. Haha. (Don't tell my mum I said that. I don't want another lecture on the proper ways to treat a girl. I mean, all I did was wink at the girl in the bakery. It's not like I asked her out on a date and then didn't show up)._

_ I thought things were going well. She asked if I could help her with her charms homework and I told her of course I could help her because of my charming personality. And don't say I don't have a charming personality. You of all people know how charming I can be when I want to (no laughing. I know you well enough to know you want to laugh). _

_The girl was just staring at me the entire time (all 15 minutes of the 'date'). She didn't even open up a book. I can't tell you how relieved I was when Sirius came in and told me he needed my help with the newest prank. I tried to look as upset about leaving as I could._

_Maybe you should transfer to Hogwarts then I could use you as girl repellent._

_I hope your week wasn't as terrible as mine. I'll write you a proper letter next time. I just had to get this off my chest._

_Always,_

_Remus_

Becky burst out laughing. Remus' letter had lightened her mood exponentially. It always amazed Becky how her mood could change just by reading a letter from Remus.

As Becky walked into her fencing class, she laughed at a thought that flashed through her mind, 'remind me not to date as full of himself as Remus.'

* * *

***Hogwarts: Current Time***

"Severus Snape! No way!"

"Fine...two. There you go, Alex Monroe."

"Hmm, leave him."

"What! What's wrong with Alex Monroe? He's fit, a prefect, and a seventh year. You can't go wrong with that combination."

"Two words, Libby Night."

"No," came an exclamation of disbelief from across the table.

"What are you girls doing," Becky asked finally looking up from the essay she was working on for their transfiguration class.

"Just playing 'take him or leave him'," Sasah replied with a cheeky grin. It was obvious she loved playing this game, but no one could figure out exactly why it brought her so much amusement other than the fact Sasha was a little boy crazy.

" It's a game Sasha made up during our second year," Mellissa began to explain as she twisted a small portion of her hair with her finger. "You start with the first guy who walks past the library. You can decide to 'take him' or 'leave him'. If you decide to leave him then you have to take your chances that there is someone better."

"What happens if a girl walks by," Becky asked wondering why this game sounded so familiar.

"It depends on your preference, I suppose. However, we tried to play it that way just once. It ended bad when Mellissa asked Dorcus Meadows to Hogsmead," Sasha said jabbing her thumb in Mellissa's direction. "Dorcus was nice about the whole thing, but ended up slapping Mellissa for getting 'too handsy'."

Becky shot a surprised look at Mellissa. "You were slapped because you go too handsy with her?"

"I merely grabbed her shoulder so I could talk to her," Mellissa defended. The twisting of her hair became more rapid as she got nervous.

Becky continued to look at her friends with a confused stare. "Why would she have to ask Dorcas out if..."

"You are forced to take the third one," Allie said with a shrug while trying to stop Mellissa from her incessant hair twisting.

"And by take you mean..."

"Ask them out to Hogsmead or to study or 'to study', if you know what I mean?"

"So Allie, you're still up," Sasha said turning to her friend and staring her straight in the eyes. Then she turned to Becky to explain what she was missing while Becky was actually doing something productive on their Friday night in the library. "So far Allie has passed up Snape and Alex Monroe."

"Both, yuk," all the girls at the table giggled except for Becky. She didn't understand what was so gross about the two males, except for their matching stringy hair. Then again, Becky hadn't been going to Hogwarts as long as her fellow Hufflepuffs had been.

"Spoken like a bunch of true 16 year-olds," Becky murmured in jest.

"Shut up, Fourneir," Allie laughed. "It'll be your turn soon enough. Just you wait."

"Anyway," Mellissa said bringing the attention back onto herself. "Allie's lucky guy number three is...Frank Longbottom,"

"What! But he is dating Alice and she is right there with him," Allie whined.

"You know the rules," Sasha said with an evil smile.

"I hate you guys," Allie whimpered, pushing herself out of her seat.

The girls watched as Allie ran out of the library. Mellissa, Sasha, and Becky followed. They hid just behind the corner spying on their friend. Once Allie caught up to Frank she tapped him on the shoulder and began talking. At first Frank look really confused. Alice whispered something to him. Then he broke into laughter, shook his head with a gallant smile. Without another word Allie retreated back to her friends.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate you," Allie said. Her face was bright red and she refused to look any of her friends in the eye. "At least Alice knew why I had a sudden interest in boyfriend."

"Well, let's move on, shall we? Who's next? Becky!"

All three girls turned to Becky. Their eyes were sparkling with excitement and mischief.

"What? No. I'm good."

"None sense. We will make sure you get someone good."

"How can you be sure of that? This game is a game of chance. Besides, I have little to no experience with guys. In case you have forgotten I just came from a school that segregates boys and girls into different classes."

"If anything you can play that to your advantage. It adds to your mystic as the exotic new girl."

Becky's cries of complain were drowned out by her friends excitement.

"And one is Sirius Black," Sasha exclaimed as Sirius walked up to the library doors and leaned against the frame as if he was waiting for someone.

You are so lucky, Becky!"

"Um, leave him."

"What do you mean 'leave him'?"

"Yeah, he is the best choice in school."

"It's not that he isn't nice to look at, I just don't think I have a chance. He swore off girls at the end of last year."

"How do you know that?"

Becky realized her mistake. Why did she keep saying things in front of these girls she knew she shouldn't reveal? "Er, it was just something I overheard some of the Ravenclaw girls talking about in the bathroom the other day."

"We know you didn't overhear that in the bathroom. Remus Lupin told you didn't he. Fine don't tell us. If you won't take fit, attractive, athletic, gorgeous, Sirius Black then your second choice is...well, the fates must have heard us talking because look who is talking to Sirius Black. None other than your very own Remus Lupin."

The girls except Becky broke into giggles. This happened any time Remus was mentioned in Becky's presence. The girls still didn't know the extent of Becky and Remus' friendship, but they knew enough to continuously tease her.

"Poor guy," Mellissa said with a dramatic sigh.

"Why? What's wrong with Remus," Becky questioned. She knew she was baiting herself for more ridicule from the girls, but she couldn't help but feel a little protective of her best friend. "I thought you were always excited about the prospect of me talking to him."

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with him and we do want to see how he interacts with you. It's just, he comes to the library so often that he has been asked out by each of us at least twice by each of us," Allie explained. Her face was finally back to normal.

"Has he ever said yes to any of you," Becky asked. She could feel her jaw hardening with a slight feeling of jealousy.

"He did once, when I asked him, back in third year," Mellissa said. "It was a study date. But within the first 15 minutes Sirius and James came in and kidnapped him. I like to think he was a little perturbed by the whole being kidnapped."

Becky smiled. Now that it was mentioned, she did remember a letter she received from Remus, back in her second year, which mentioned a 'study date' with some girl. It amused Becky to find out it was one of her dorm mates. It calmed her even more to know that the date did not work out,

"Well," Allie began, tearing Becky out of her thoughts. "What will it be? Will you 'take him' or will you 'leave him'?"

"We all know you're chummy with him," Mellissa giggled waving her hands in a dismissing fashion. "So let's see it."

"If that's the case, who am I to break tradition," Becky said with an eye roll. Regardless, she stood from her seat with a small smile. She walked over to the table where Remus recently sat.

"Hey, Rem," Becky said in a low voice. "Just you tonight? I thought I saw Sirius not long ago."

"The other marauder's aren't much for Friday night studying in the library," Remus replied with a tired smile.

Becky studied her friend for a second or two and noticed the darkening circles under his eyes. His face was pale with a slight green ting to his skin. "Are you okay? You look a bit more pallid than normal."

"I'm fine," Remus replied quickly. The full moon was tomorrow and the fact was Remus wasn't fine. He felt sick, but he knew he had to get ahead on his studying before he was incapacitated for a couple of days. "I woke up this morning with a touch of a cold, I think. I'll go to the hospital wing if things get worse. Anyway, I see you are getting along with your roommates. What brings you over here? Need some charms help?"

Becky laughed at their private joke as she sat down next to Remus. "I need no help with charms especially from you. I believe I can manage to be charming on my own. Thank you very much." She managed a quick glance to her friends, who were all staring intently at her, before turning completely to her best friend. "Listen, have you ever heard of the game 'take him, or leave him'?"

Remus thought for a moment before replying with one of his eye brows raised, "Is that the insipid game where you have to ask out one of three guys?"

"Possibly," Becky smiled. She could feel the laugh bubbling up, but she had to keep her cool.

"Oh, Merlin, Becky. Not you too," Remus groaned, rubbing his tired blue eyes.

"Yeah, the girls may have mentioned asking you out a few times."

"A few times! I have probably been asked out one each one of them every year for the past three years! This is insane."

"Well, at least I chose you over Sirius."

"Well, that's a relief." Remus rolled his eyes.

"Hey, don't take that tone with me. I could still ask Sirius. I'm sure I can convince him to take me on a date even though he is on a dating sabbatical."

Becky pretended to be offended and stood from her chair. However, it didn't last long because the giggle that threatened to escape from her lips was freed.

"No, wait," Remus said standing up himself in order to keep his best friend from tipping over during her laughing fit. Without a thought he placed both his hands on either side of Becky's hips to keep her upright. "How about during the next Hogsmead trip I buy you lunch. Just lunch. I think that's all I can manage of your charming personality."

"No date," Becky asked; her laughter stopping. She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead in a dramatic fashion as she leaned into Remus. "Is that what I mean to you? You buy me a sandwich before you send me packing, is that it? I allow you to kiss my charming self and this is all I get in return?"

"You allow me to kiss you," Remus questioned. He laughed as if Becky had uttered the most hilarious joke. What he said next was only loud enough for Becky to hear. "I believe you are the one who pulled me into a deserted classroom last night when I was patrolling the halls and began snogging me."

Becky merely shrugged in answer. She couldn't argue with something that may have been true.

"Listen, I'll buy you lunch at Hogsmead and I'll even let you stick around after you eat your sandwich," Remus said.

"You'll _let_ me stick around. If that's all you think of me..." Becky stood to leave the teasing smile never leaving her face.

"Bloodly hell, woman," Remus groaned. He knew she was just trying to get a rise out of him, but he couldn't help but get a little frustrated because she knew which buttons to push. Again, it didn't help that one didn't need to press his buttons very hard around the full moon to get a rise out of him.

"Language, Mr. Lupin. Anyway, you have yourself a deal. See you later." Becky said reaching up to pat Remus on the head before twisting out of Remus' grasp and walking away.

"So how did it go," Sasha asked drilled Becky for information as soon as the new girl rejoined them at the table.

"He said no," Becky replied. "Better luck next time, girls."

"No he didn't," Mellissa squealed. "We saw the way he was holding you. There is definitely something going on between the two of you. He had to have said yes!"

"How do you know," Becky inquired attempting to lift one eyebrow in a curious fashion.

"Because he is totally trying not to smile at you," Mellissa pointed a manicured finger towards the table where Becky's best friend sat. "And you can't stop smiling either."

Becky looked over at Remus. Seeing him try to hid behind a stoic look she couldn't help but smile. Remus of course couldn't help himself and he genuinely smiled back.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed even the visiting readers. Please know that even though I cannot send you a PM I still appreciate the reviews!**

**I'll try to have the next chapter up next week.**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	22. Chapter 22: Puppy Love

**Chapter 22**

* * *

***Remus age 5, Becky age 4***

Nancy and Jane watched the two young children play on the grass while they sat in the garden enjoying the warm rays of the summer sun.

"Do you think we will ever find a love as pure as theirs," Nancy asked her friend, gesturing out toward the children.

"They don't even know what love is, Nance," Jane chuckled. "They think love is their favourite stuffed toy."

Nancy nodded. "I swear what they have is puppy love."

Jane burst out laughing and lightly backhanded her friend's shoulder.

Little Becky and Remus looked over to their mothers with inquisitive looks on their cherub faces. When they notices the two mothers were engrossed in their own conversation, Becky and Remus resumed their game.

"Are you poking fun at my son's condition," Jane asked when she sobered up. However, she never lost the smile on her face.

"I didn't mean it that way," Nancy laughed. "Puppy love is a term we, non-magic people, use to describe young love. You know when love first begins and all you want to do is follow the other person where ever they go."

Jane looked over at the kids again to see Remus chasing after Becky. Remus lunged after Becky and fell stomach first into the ground. However, after a couple of dazed seconds he sprang back up and perused his chase as if nothing had happened to slow him down.

Together both women broke into laughter. It felt good for them to let loose and have some fun. Losing their husbands the previous year had been difficult, but their friendship and the strong bond between Remus and Becky helped ease the pain.

"It does fit them perfectly," Jane said. "Puppy love. It will be interesting to see if anything actually progresses when they get older."

"Oh I can only image the two of them as teenagers acting exactly like this," Nancy said taking a sip of her drink. "Let's hope Remus can keep Becky from locking herself indoors like her father. I want her to be more social and actually be able to express what she is feeling through more than just paintings."

"Yes, well, if Remus is anything like his father then we are all doomed," Jane said. "He was a relentless flirt. Becky might want to lock herself away."

Again both women burst into laughter as they continued to watch their children chase each other around the garden as fast as their little legs could carry them.

* * *

***Current Time***

_Becky,_

_Today's another Hogsmead day and I finally have a date. I however, refuse to tell my mates who I am going with though. However, it will be difficult to have the actual date without at least one of them showing up. You wouldn't by any chance happen to have an idea on how I can keep my friends from ruining this for me? I don't date very often. Actually, the last time I decided to date it was in my third year here at Hogwarts..._

Becky stopped reading the letter. After a couple of times writing back and forth Sirius was starting to get the hang of sounding more like Remus. If Becky didn't already know the letters were from Sirius, this would have been the letter that made her question the true author because Becky knew exactly who Remus' date was.

"What else does it say," Lily inquired pulling the letter toward her and continuing to read.

Becky had told Lily about the letters when Lily had come into the library one day in a foul mood because Sirius and Peter were pulling pranks on the second years again. Becky thought this would be a good opportunity for Lily to be involved in a little playful reprisal.

"You should say something about a red headed neighbour having a crush on Remus," Lily said looking up from the page and sliding the letter back to the newest Hufflepuff.

"Are you trying to punish Sirius or James," Becky laughed as she began to write a reply on a new piece of parchment. "Because James really hasn't been that bad. He's head boy, he seems to have more respect than to prank the younger students."

Lily scoffed. "You haven't had to deal with his constant annoyances throughout the years."

"True, but I have had to deal with Remus and that is no easy feat either. He's one of the biggest flirts I know."

"That doesn't sound like Remus," Lily said scrunching up her nose like she would do when she was in thought. "Remus was usually the peace maker of the group. Always helping out the underdog, never being disrespectful to anyone. Especially girls. He was always polite to girls."

"I am starting to think that Remus leads a double life."

"In more ways than one."

Becky cocked her head to the side and looked at the red head seated next to her on the bench. "I don't understand. What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh you know," Lily said waving her hand in a dismissing fashion. "His condition."

"What condition," Becky asked. She honestly had no idea what Lily was talking about. Sure, there was some side to Remus that he kept here at Hogwarts, but Lily made it sound like there was something even more.

Lily's eyes widened. She thought for sure Remus would have told his best friend about his moonlight secret.

However, it became exceedingly obvious that Remus had never told Becky. Now Lily had eluded to it accidently.

"Oh you know," Lily said thinking quickly, "Sirius now pretending to be Remus. It's like he has three different personalities or conditions."

Becky laughed again while nodding her head in agreement. She finished up her writing and handed it back to Lily.

_Remus,_

_Your letters are starting to sound a little more like you today. I have no idea where your head was at, but I'm glad to see you are almost back to normal._

_Yes, I remember your 'date' from third year well. You brought it up not that long ago. It was that Mellissa girl from Hufflepuff, right?_

_Plus how am I supposed to help you with your friends if I have never met them before? Where would be the least likely spot you would take a person out on a date? Perhaps you should take her there. That way your friends won't find you. What does this girl look like anyway? I bet she's pretty. She would have to be for you to go out with her. Do you remember that girl who lived across the street from us when we were growing up? She had the most vibrant red hair I had ever seen and she had the hugest crush on you. What was her name again? It was some kind of flower wasn't it?_

_Well, anyway, my advice to you regarding your date would be to go to a place no one would ever find you. Why don't you see me! No one would ever find you if you spent the day with me. Haha._

_Always,_

_Becky_

"Perfect," Lily said with a cheeky smile. "Now let's get this delivered before we go to Hogsmead to meet up with your date."

**~0o0o0o0o0~**

"You have a date," Sirius inquired jumping on the edge of his werewolf friend's bed. "Who's the lucky lady?"

"It's been since...what, third year since you went out with anyone," James said joining his best mate on the bed. He flopped down on this stomach and placed his hands beneath his chin like one of the first year girls trying to get gossipy information out of a friend.

"It's just lunch," Remus laughed at his friend's antics as he laced up his shoes.

"C'mon, give us a hint," Sirius said as he continued to stare at Remus. His friend's change in demeanor didn't go unnoticed by Sirius. Normally Remus would have spouted off some nonsense about how gossiping about the girl Remus just happen to be having lunch with was none of Sirius' business. Instead of the tight, serious answer, Remus actually laughed it off. Something was defiantly different about the werewolf.

"What house is she in?" Peter when he walked out of the bathroom rubbing his damp hair with a towel.

"A house here at Hogwarts. That's all you three get to know," Remus smiled a tired smile. He looked at his friend through the mirror as he tousled his hair slightly.

"Mate, are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean the full moon is the day after tomorrow. You're going to be tired if you go on this date," James said giving his friend a worried look.

"I'll be fine," Remus ensured his friends. "It's only lunch nothing more than that and while we're on the subject, I would appreciate if the three of you would refrain from disturbing me."

"We're just worried about you and your...condition," James explained. "You know what happens if the wolf is too tired before the fullmoon."

"He said he can handle it, James," Sirius exclaimed walking up behind Remus and clapping him on the back. "Now tell us what house this girl is in."

"Not gonna happen, Padfoot," Remus shrugged Sirius' hand off his shoulder. "And if you trail me, I will make sure I bite off your tail tonight when I transform."

"Not if I bite you first," Sirius murmured.

Remus rolled his eyes.

"You guys ready to go," Peter asked pulling a shirt over his head causing his words to come out a bit muffled.

"Pete's right. The sooner we get to Hogsmead the better," Sirius exclaimed practically running out the door.

"Do you think he will ever grow out of that excitement," Remus asked his two remaining friends.

The only answer he received was a shrug from both James and Peter.

They caught up with an impatient Sirius just outside the common room. Sirius would have taken off again if James hadn't grabbed him by the back of the shirt.

"For Merlin's sake! Calm yourself. Padfoot will get to run to his heart's content tonight when we take Moony out for a walk."

Sirius nodded eagerly while Remus stoically adjusted his robes. Tonight was not something he was looking forward to.

"Don't worry, Remus. Just focus on that date of yours and not tonight," James tried to comfort his friend.

When the Marauders descended the stairs, James spotted two girls walking towards the entrance hall.

"Rebecca, Lily!"

"Hello, James," Becky greeted while Lily let out a soft groan. "Oh, and Sirius, Peter...Remus. Good to see you three as well."

"Are you going to Hogsmead now," Remus asked with a knowing smile. He let his eyes linger on Becky for a few seconds longer than normal, but not long enough for any of his friends to notice.

"In a little bit. Lily said she would walk me there," Becky replied. She could feel her cheeks heating up just slightly from Remus watching her.

"You're going with Lily? What about your dorm-mates, why aren't you going with them," James asked his eyes flicking over to his beloved head girl. "Not that Lily isn't wonderful company."

"They all have dates for this afternoon. I was going to head over there by myself, but Lily offered to escort me when she saw how sad and pathetic I looked coming out of my dorm," Becky joked.

"You didn't look that sad or pathetic," Lily ribbed. "In fact I would say you were smiling like a fool."

Becky looked over to Remus briefly and smiled. Remus couldn't help but smile knowing he was the reason for Lily's comment.

James picked up on Becky's smile and blush. "Ah yes, Lily is beautiful both inside and out. So what about you, Miss Rebecca...do you have a date?"

"Why are you asking me to Hogsmead, James," Becky said shifting her attention to the head boy. She crossed her arms and gave him a smirk.

Remus let out a small chocking cough at hearing Becky flirt with James. Peter hit Remus on the back a couple of times as a helping gesture.

"Not this time, no," James apologized. "I have some other business to attend to this trip, but perhaps next time."

"Perhaps."

"Well, we will see you ladies later," Sirius said as he began to usher his friends away.

"Wait," Lily stopped them before they could go much further. "Sirius, this is for you. We were in the owlery and saw an owl had this for you. So we thought we would deliver it."

"Ah, thank you ladies," Sirius said with an eager smile accepting the rolled up letter from Lily. "I have been waiting for this. Come along, Pete. We have much to plan."

"I suppose we will see you ladies later then," James said with a smile and an incline of his head.

Becky smiled and nodded at the boys. Sirius and Peter were already out the entrance leaving James and Remus with the girls.

James began to walk past the girls, following slightly behind Remus, when he saw something that was a bit shocking. James couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his friend brush a hand against the new girl's hand. It wasn't a normal accidental brush of two people passing each other in a busy hall and it definitely wasn't a typical thing for Remus to do.

It was a purposeful fingertips connecting and lingering a little longer than normal kind of brush. The movement seemed so natural between the two of them; James had to wonder if this kind of thing happened on a regular basis without him ever noticing before.

Was it other girls or was it just Rebecca? There was something playing at the back of his mind about Rebecca, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

James shook his head and followed Remus out of the entrance hall stealing one look behind his shoulder to see the Rebecca girl and Lily back in conversation.

As soon as James and Remus were out of hearing range, Becky turned to Lily.

"Are you insane," Becky asked.

"What? I thought I was being perfectly civil towards James."

"I'm not talking about that. You just handed Sirius a letter that was addressed to Remus!"

Lily automatically realized her mistake. How would she have known the letter was to go to Sirius if it was clearly addressed to Remus and most likely being delivered by Becus.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to see how intuitive Sirius really is," Lily said. "Now come on. We need to get things ready for that date of yours."

* * *

**A/N: And here ends chapter 22! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited, and followed. It is great to see such positive feedback for this story (which was originally only supposed to be about 10 chapters or so).**

**Next chapter is Remus and Becky's actual date.**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	23. Chapter 23: A Date Out the Window

**Chapter 23**

* * *

***Remus age 8, Becky age 7***

The sun was blazing and a slight breeze drifted from the water's wide birth up to the highest edge of its sandy confinement. The cliffs hugging the shore stopped the breeze from reaching inland.

On this hot day, the two members of the Lupin family and the two members of the James-Fourneir family did not care about the breeze rustling through their hair. In fact, the four of them quite enjoyed the cooling effect the gentle wing brought.

Overall, the day was beautiful and the two family units thought it would be the perfect day to get out of the house.

A blanket was set out on the sand, high on the shore as a precaution for when the tide began to roll in. Food, snacks, and drinks, some consumed some not, were laid haphazardly out on the blanket. Nancy James and Jane Lupin were also laid out on the blanket, each leaning back on their elbows watching the young members of their families enjoy the sun, sand, and water.

"Remus John Lupin! You put that starfish down right now," Jane yelled across the beach. The little boy with light brown hair jumped at the sound of his mother's reprimanding voice. He almost dropped the starfish causing Jane to flinch. She watched her son gently place the star shaped creature back into the tidal pool.

"I hate it when he does that," Jane sighed when she knew the starfish was safely returned to the water. "He reminds me of his father when he does things like that. Always trying to help the less unfortunate or examining things."

"I wish, Becky follow in her father's occupational footsteps not his hobby," Nancy shook her head. "I'm tired of trying to get the paint out of the carpet."

Jane laughed. "It's better than having her get blood on the carpet."

Nancy groaned at her friend's joke.

"What do you think they're talking about," Becky asked as she began writing her name in the sand with a piece of drift wood.

"Us of course," Remus replied wiping away Becky's work with his foot.

"Hey," Becky scoffed, hitting Remus' ankles with her driftwood.

When Becky got tired of her friend trying to ruin her artful name creations in the sand, she bend down to stuck her finger in the small pool by her feet. She giggled when the she touched a bluish-green anemone. The finger like tendrils quivered in the water before closing like a flower.

"Rebecca Elsie James-Fourneir, stop poking the sea life," Remus reprimanded slapping Becky's hand causing droplets of water bounced up out of the pool. A tiny fish living in the pool immediately hid behind a small rock when the water was disturbed.

"Just because your mother told you to stop torturing the sea animals does not mean you get to hit me," Becky smiled playfully pushing her friend onto the wet sand.

Remus in his hunkered down position fell onto his rear as soon as he was pushed. He was left with wet sand clinging to his underside and a giggling Becky.

Remus' eyes flashed in an amused, non malicious glint. "That's it, Fournier, get over here."

Becky let off a shriek before taking off running towards where their mother's were sitting. However, halfway up the beach, Remus caught Becky around the middle and tugged her back to the ocean. He had always been faster than Becky and it was always easy to catch her.

"No, no, no, no...MUUUUUUM," Becky screamed, but all that was heard was laughter coming from the direction of the mothers.

Drag marks were left in the sand from Becky's heels as Remus pulled her backwards.

"No, no, no, no, no..."

"You brought this upon yourself."

"No, no," Becky continued to cry out. They were at the water's edge. Becky could feel the cool lapping of the water wash over her feet. "I'll do anything. I'll make your bed for a month...I'll clean your room...I'll give back all of the clothing I've taken."

"Nope, Nope, and what do you mean give back my clothing," Remus questioned watching Becky's eyes widen.

Remus' grip tightened on Becky's waist and was about push her into the ocean when Becky yelled, "I've got chocolate!"

Remus stopped trying to push Becky as soon as the word chocolate had slipped from Becky's lips.

"What kind?"

"The milk chocolate with the briny sprinkles on top."

Remus thrust his hand out with a wide grin appearing on his face.

Becky passed Remus piece of chocolate out of her pocket and he devoured it as soon as it was in his possession. Being a couple of days after his monthly transformation, Remus' senses were still heightened. As he chewed, Remus could not only taste the lavish flavour of the chocolate, but he could also taste the salty residue of the sea water in the air. The mixture of the sweet and salty increased his adoration for the girl in front of him because she had inadvertently introduced an intoxicating combination. Remus knew from this point on, whenever he ate chocolate, he would always think of Becky.

* * *

***Current Time: Remus and Becky's date***

"Lily is this really necessary?"

"Of course, we need to hide you from Remus' posse."

"They're not that bad," Becky told the red-haired head girl as Lily pushed her way through the throng of students and patrons in The Three Broomsticks enjoying their day of freedom.

Ever since Lily discovered that Becky and Remus were officially going on a date, she made it her weeks mission to ensure that the date go on without a hitch, including keeping the couple away from prying eyes. Lily always felt kind of like a mother hen when it came to Remus' well being. Ever since the first time she met him, she felt there was something there that needed that extra little bit of kindness and coddling. The urge to coddle became even more prominent the day Lily had discovered that Remus was a werewolf. She wanted everything to be perfect for him.

"How many times to do I have to say it," Lily scoffed, rolling her large almond shaped green eyes. "You haven't known them for as long as I have. They are horrible ruffians who think of no one, but themselves and the sadistic joy they feel when they pick on others."

"Tell me how you really feel about them, Lily," Becky giggled as Lily pushed open a door in the back of the pub.

"This is reserved for private parties," Lily explained when she illuminated the room. "Madam Rosmerta, the owner, usually allows the Head Boy and Girl to hold prefect meetings here. Of course, this isn't a prefect meeting so I had to pull a few strings to get it reserved for you and Remus."

"Lily, you really didn't have to do this," Becky said. "I would have been happy anywhere he would have taken me."

"I know. I just thought it would be nice. Remus is a good guy and I've never seen him as happy as he is with you."

Becky smiled and her eyes wandered around the room. The room was about the size of the main part of the restaurant. It was evident this used to be some kind of banquet hall, but Hogsmead obviously wasn't the typical destination for large fancy gatherings.

In the middle of the floor there was a small table with a chandelier of lit candles floating above it. The table was set with a maroon cloth and silver table settings for two.

Becky noticed a wall of windows along one wall overlooking the streets of the small village. The cobble stone streets were lined with students rushing from one store front to another.

"Well, this is where I leave you," Lily said. "Remus should be on his way soon."

Becky turned to the seventh year with sparkling green eyes. "Thank you again, Lily. I really appreciate you going through all of this trouble for me and Remus."

"No trouble at all," Lily replied opening the door that lead back into the busy bar. But before she closed the door she gave Becky a piece of advice. "Just make sure you get back to the castle before sundown. Full moons around here always make people a little more...crazy."

With that Lily disappeared leaving behind an amused yet slightly confused Becky. Becky wondered if Lily was being a typical neurotic Head Girl that didn't want to have to deal with people being out after curfew or if there really was something about the full moon.

Becky shuttered she hoped it was the former because she despised the full moon for haunting past reasons.

The door opened and the noise volume increased tenfold causing Becky to turn towards the door again. A figure quickly shut the door and the roar of the pub patrons disappeared.

"Hey," Remus breathed rushing over to his best friend.

"How did you slip away from your friends," Becky said pecking Remus on the lips in greeting.

"Lily is conversing with James," Remus said smiling into his return kiss. "She made sure to stop James at the door to Honeydukes so Sirius and Peter couldn't follow me."

Remus placed one more kiss on Becky's cheek before grabbing her hand and leading her to the window and pointing out the fiery red head seemingly yelling at a smiling messy raven haired Head Boy.

"I think she secretly likes him," Becky said leaning into Remus' frame. "Although I think James could tone it down with some of the theatrics."

"Aw, but we marauders live for the theatrics," Remus whisper in Becky's ear causing her to shiver. "You should know this by now."

"Or you boys just love to pick on girls and flirt with them even if they know they don't stand a chance," Becky replied turning around in Remus' arms. "However, I have been told that you are not like the others."

"How so," Remus questioned kissing Becky's collarbone.

"They say you are usually quiet, and keep to yourself. You don't flirt with other girls; in fact, you hardly look their way."

"And what do you think?"

"I think there are two sides to you Remus Lupin."

"You have no idea," Remus said looking at Becky with a smirk. He went in to kiss her one more time, but she gasped and tried to take a step back.

"Your eyes," Becky stated in wonder. "They're almost black. I haven't seen this happen for a few years."

"It's nothing," Remus replied closing his eyes and grabbing Becky's hand. "It's just a little bit of a cold."

"Gross," Becky said allowing Remus to lead her to the table. "Now I'm going to get sick because you kissed me."

Remus laughed almost humorously. "You can't catch what I have from a kiss."

"Fine, I'll believe you, but if I get sick because of you..." Becky trailed off.

"You won't."

As soon as the couple sat at the table, food appeared on their plates. First there was a course of salad and vegetable soup followed by a course of pasta covered in white sauce; nothing with meat due to Remus' aversion to anything that once had a face.

Near the end of the meal, Becky pointed out that Remus had some sauce on his chin. He attempted to get it, but couldn't manage to find the spot himself. So Becky pushed her chair over closer and used her own napkin to wipe away the residue.

"Thanks," Remus said with a soft smile.

A small smile was all he could manage because the pain throughout his body was starting to take over. He knew he only had a couple more hours with Becky before he was exhaled to the shrieking shack for his monthly transformation.

He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Becky. "I saw this and I thought of you."

"Rem, you didn't have to." Remus shrugged as Becky stared down at the plain paper bag. Becky opened the top and her nose immediately caught the sweet aroma of chocolate.

Becky could feel her mouth begin to water. She remembered when Remus had once brought some of this kind of chocolate home once. The two of them devoured the entire bag in a matter of minutes. Their mothers had not been happy with the amount of sweets the two had consumed, but neither Becky nor Remus cared because they were filled with the sinful taste of Honeydukes chocolate.

Becky gingerly placed a piece of the flavoursome treat. It was a blend of smooth, sweet, flavour that was gently cut with the brackish accent of coarse sea salt. To Becky it was the perfect combination of sweet and savoury. It reminded her of Remus and the summers they would spend at the beach when they were younger.

"Do you have any idea how much I love this chocolate," Becky practically moaned when she popped a piece into her mouth.

"Almost as much as I love y..." Remus murmured, but he was interrupted.

"NO! I'm not done talking to you." A voice was heard yelling outside the door. There was a rattle of the doorknob and a loud thump as if someone threw their body against the door.

"You can finish lecturing me in here, Lily."

"That sounds like James," Remus whispered to Becky. There was a touch of panic in his voice.

"Are you hiding someone in there, Lilikins," the unmistakable voice of Sirius asked.

The doorknob rattled again.

"You open that door or so help me I will hex you so bad Dumbledore will have to reassign the position of Head Boy."

"I don't think James would be the one Dumbledore would ask to step down."

"Shut up, Black."

Remus looked frantically at the door. He pulled out his wand and turned his eyes back to Becky. "You have to leave. Go through the window and head back to the castle. I will meet you there as soon as I can."

"Why can't I just meet them already? You know...officially."

"Because today is not a day I want to be ridiculed by my friends," Remus stated while raising his wand above Becky's head. He muttered a spell under his breath.

Becky could feel as though and egg was being crushed over her head. It feel like the thick yoke was dripping down her entire body causing her to shiver. When she looked down at her hands she realized they were no longer visable.

"A disillusionment charm? Really, Remus," Becky said in an agitated whisper.

"Yes, now please just go," Remus rushed.

Before Becky could turn away, Remus grabbed her and planted one last passionate kiss on her lips because he knew he probably wouldn't be seeing her again tonight.

"How could you see—"

"Just call it the curse of heightened senses. No go!"

With one last sigh, Becky rushed to the window, unlatched it, and put one leg through. She glanced back at Remus who had gone back to sitting at the table and was running his hands through his hair in thought.

As soon as Becky hoisted the rest of her body through the window three things happened simultaneously; there was a loud bang of a door slamming against a wall, the was a shrill scream of frustration from Lily, and lastly there was a startled squawk as Becky landed on something or someone at the bottom of the window.

All Becky could see that she landed on was a leg sticking out from nowhere. Becky was about scream when Peter appeared, pulling some kind of thick, silk looking cloak away.

"H-h-hello," Peter stuttered. "W-who's there?"

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry, Peter," Becky apologized. Peter was frantically looking around for the voice with wide disbelieving eyes.

"Who are you? Where are you," Peter wondered still trying to search for the person attached to the voice.

"Again, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. Remus told me to leave out the window so I wouldn't have to go past James or Sirius," Becky explained as she grabbed Peter's hand and pulled up to his feet.

All of a sudden Peter thought he recognized the voice. "Becky? As is Remus' mystery neighbour, Becky?"

"Yes," Becky said and then immediately realized what she had just done. Remus was going to kill her when he found out that she inadvertently admitted she was indeed Becky.

"Why are you here," Peter questioned, looking in the general direction of Becky.

"I was on a date with Remus," Becky admitted. She figured she might as well tell him the truth.

"You shouldn't be here," Peter said. "You have to get to the castle before it gets dark. It's too dangerous to be out."

"Why does everyone keep telling me that," Becky questioned giving a confused look even though she knew Peter couldn't see her. "I can take care of myself, thank you."

"Are you an animagus?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Pete, are you talking to yourself again," Sirius asked with an amused grin as he peered out the window at Peter and a still invisible Becky. "Did you see Remus' date? It seems he pushed her out the window before we got in."

"I can honestly say I did not see anyone come out this window," Peter said after Becky whispered for him not to give her away.

"Well, get in here, Pete," Sirius said disappearing back into the building.

"Thanks, Pete," Becky whispered handing Peter a piece of her chocolate in thanks and running back to the castle to wait for Remus.

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! In true form, I had to have something ruin the date. Although as we can see the time is getting closer for Becky to find out about Remus' monthly transformations. **

**I have a poll going on my profile page asking everyone how I should reveal Remus' "furry little problem" to Becky. You can either send me a review, PM, or vote on the poll. I would love to hear what people think!**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	24. Chapter 24: Chilling Music of the Night

**Chapter 24**

* * *

***Remus; Age 12***

"It was because of me," Remus questioned his mother after she had finished talking.

"Honey, it wasn't your fault," Jane tried to comfort her son by bringing him closer to her body in a hug, but Remus pushed himself away.

"No," Remus cried out, backing himself into a corner and hiding his face in his hands. "How can you even stand to look at me after what I caused?"

"It wasn't you. We all lose control," Jane consoled. She attempted to pull Remus' hands away from his face, but he merely swatted his mother's hand away again. "They were trying to protect you. Do you know how heartbroken I would have been if I had lost you?"

"But instead I break not only your heart, but I destroy another family as well," Remus whimpered in his corner. "I'm a monster. I shouldn't have cried for help. I should have just let that monster devour me."

At that moment Jane broke down into tears. She couldn't believe that her son, her twelve year old son, had just admitted he wished he would have died. "Remus don't...don't say things like that."

"It's true, mum," Remus said behind his own tears.

"It was a tragedy, yes, but you were so young. They wanted to give you a chance to live..."

"Two deaths in exchange for cursed life," Remus cried harder finally allowing his mother to wrap her comforting arms around his shaking form.

After a little while, Jane finally got up wiping the tear tracks off of her face with her sleeve. "I'm going to make us some tea. I'll call out of work tonight and the two of us can just stay in."

Remus just nodded. He wasn't ready to look his mother in the eye.

Remus sat in silence for a minute or so before he felt someone knell down in front of him. He expected to see his mother holding a cup of tea for him, but instead he saw the green eyes of his best friend.

"Rem, are you alright," Becky quietly asked seeing the tears that had run down her friend's cheeks.

Remus said nothing and turned his head away from Becky.

"Is there anything I can get for you," Becky questioned reaching out to take Remus' hand.

Remus instantly recoiled as if burned. He mumbled something, but Becky wasn't able to hear.

"I'm sorry, what was that," Beck questioned again.

"I said get out," Remus snapped. "I don't want to see you again. It will only make matters worse."

"But, Rem, I don't underst—"

"I said...GET OUT," Remus roared standing up quickly and pushing Becky backwards.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I did wrong," Becky sniffed. The tears prickled behind her eyes and she turned from the room, leaving the house as quickly as she could.

* * *

***"Current Time"***

They were outside looking across the Black Lake. There was a slight breeze that rippled through the trees causing the leaves to quiver and rattle. Small waves lapped upon the lake shore adding to the peaceful sounds of nature.

Even though Remus and Becky were standing right next to each other, there was a tense feeling between the two of them.

"I know, Remus."

"You know," Remus asked with evident shock in his voice. "How-w-when, what?"

Becky gently placed her hand on Remus' arm to calm him. "I figured it out that summer you told me you couldn't be around me anymore."

"But how did you know. I never told you," Remus sat on a nearby rock still showing disbelief on his face.

"The pattern just seemed to fit and I know for a fact that you would never miss my birthday which you did on my 8th birthday," Becky smiled. "My, mum wouldn't let me go looking for you. She said that you weren't feeling well and she didn't want me to get sick on my birthday. A week before my 9th birthday you couldn't go to the zoo with us because you got sick. A couple of days after my 10th birthday you got sick again on the day my party was being held. The excuse your mum told me was that you must have eaten something bad. And then there was the weekend after my 12th birthday, I had planned to go on a camping trip for the weekend because it was a full moon and I didn't want to have to use torches. So on and so forth until this summer...I finally realized there was a pattern to your absences. Your mum said that you were..."

Remus snorted. "Yeah, sick…right."

"Rem, don't do this to yourself," Becky said stepping a little closer. "You beat yourself up about this. It's not your fault."

"But it is my fault this happens," Remus mumbled.

"Don't you dare say that, Remus John Lupin," Becky said with a harsh tone. "If anyone should be feeling guilty, it's me. I turned my back on you that summer. I should have not listened to you and I should have remained friends with you no matter what."

Remus visibly recoiled, not at the sound of his full name, but at the way Becky had said it. Like he was some child that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar right before dinner.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew? We could have worked through it. Neither one of us would have been so miserable that summer."

"It wasn't my position to tell you."

Remus sighed. "I know. I know I should have told you ages ago, but I couldn't take the chance of you leaving me."

"I'm still here aren't I?"

"I guess, but that summer I physically pushed you out the door and told you never to speak to me again."

"There's no guessing now, Remus. I am here for you no matter what. I just wish you would have told me sooner; then neither one of us would have had to keep the secret."

Remus smiled.

Becky smiled back. She tried to make her eyes convey what she was thinking and feeling.

Then Remus saw it...those sparkles in her eyes. The sparkles that said that she was telling the truth. The sparkle that made Remus step forward and do something that he never thought he would have enough courage to do let along go through with it in the first place. He kissed her.

He had kissed her plenty of times, but this time it was different. There was so much passion behind the kiss Becky thought she was going to burst with happiness until she felt Remus pull away.

"I am sorry," Remus said looking Becky in the eyes.

"Sorry for what," Becky breathlessly murmured after the intense kiss. She could feel the tingle lingering on her lip's sensitive skin.

"I am sorry for this…"

Before Becky could respond, Remus had shoved her backwards and she lost her footing. The warm lake water washed over Becky stunned features.

Becky woke with a start. Some sound had awoken her from her dream.

"Damn it, Remus," she hissed into the night listening for any kind of disturbance. "Even in my dreams he's being an arse."

She stared up at the canopy of her bed wishing she could make sense of her cryptic dream. They always say that your dreams are a way of your brain to make sense of the random rigamarol inside one's head. But what Becky couldn't figure out was she supposed to have known about Remus? And what did her birthday's have to do with it?

While thinking about the meaning of the dream, Becky also wished she could get rid of the smile that plagued her face from the dream kiss. Becky was still upset with Remus for not meeting her back at the castle like he promised after she left their date through the Three Broomsticks window.

Within seconds, Becky got her wish regarding her smile as it quickly slipped from her face being replaced with an expression of terror.

An animalistic howl with such humanistic qualities sounded from outside which caused Becky to whimper. She threw her bed covers over her head and held them tightly around her. Another howl was heard and Becky began to hyperventilate; her breathing was becoming erratic with each passing second.

She hated hearing wolves call out into the night. She especially hated it when they were outside her bedroom window. The haunting sounds brought up memories that she had always wanted to suppress, but was never able to accomplish.

Becky sat trembling in her bed and attempted to focus on her roommates breathing in order to calm herself. If she were at home she would have scurried into her mother's bed and curled up in her mother's arms. Becky didn't want to wake up her roommates just because she had a fear of wolves. None of the other girls would understand the terror the creatures brought her, especially in the middle of the night.

Becky slowly began to move. She carefully pulled the covers away from her head and slowly leaned over the side of her bed as if she was worried some childish monster was waiting for a sudden movement. She reached for her book bag which was on the floor just below her head and nearly jumped out of her skin when another howl erupted from outside.

Another whimper escaped from her lips as Becky silently swore under her breath at her roommates for liking to sleep with the window open.

"What do I do," Becky whispered to herself in a frozen state with one arm hanging over the side of her bed clinging to the strap of her bag.

"Just breath," she whispered again taking a few deep, calming breaths as she reeled the bag all the way up to the surface of the bed.

She was able to pull out a quill, a blank piece of parchment, an ink container, which she balanced on the mattress by her pillows. Dipping the quill in the ink was no easy feat due to Becky's trembling hand. With the quill poised above the parchment, Becky suddenly remembered she didn't want to write to Remus because of him not meeting her at the castle after their date like he had promised. She didn't feel like writing to her mother because her mother would tell her to remain calm and as long as she stayed indoors nothing would be able to hurt her.

Becky felt she had to write to someone to keep her mind off of the baying wolf or wolves outside. After a moment of thinking, Becky remembered there was one other person who she could write to. It wasn't the best solution, but she felt on some level he would understand.

With that thought in mind, Becky began to write a letter to Sirius who was still pretending to be Remus.

_Dear__ Remus,_

_I can't seem to sleep tonight. The wolves are out again and every time they howl it sends shivers up my spine. And it terrifies me. I know mum says they won't harm me, but I can't help being scared. Every time I hear them, it reminds me of my father and the last time I remember seeing him. _

_I wish I could explain this to my roommates. Don't get me wrong, they are really sweet and kind girls, but I don't think they would understand this fear because they hardly know me._

_I just wish you had some kind of advice for me to get over this fear._

_Maybe if dad hadn't died that night, I would have these irrational wolf trepidations. As I re-read over this, I sound so crazy. I really shouldn't be saying all of this to you, but I had to tell someone and I couldn't tell my boyfriend._

_I suppose the best I can do right now is to sit and wait in bed until the sun rises and the wolves go home. Then I will be able to send this letter without being scare out of my wits._

_Thank you once again for allowing me to "cry" on your "shoulder." I do feel a little better writing all of this down (at least I'm not trembling as much)._

_Always,_

_Becky_

Becky stuffed all of the items back into her bag and allowed the bag to slip onto the floor with a dull 'thud.' She thought about quickly getting out of bed to close the window in order to block out the chilling music of the night, but thought better of it. She instead grabbed her wand and cast a silencing charm around her bed so she wouldn't have to hear any outside noises as she waited for dawn to break.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is shorter than my past few, but I decided this was a good place to stop. And no, Becky still has NOT consciously figured out Remus is a werewolf. That will be revealed soon...**

**Also, if you haven't already, be sure to vote on my poll which is on my profile page. I curious to see how people think Becky should find out about Remus being a werewolf.**

******Thank you once again for reviewing! I love getting reviews and I try to always send a message back.**

******Always,  
orangezauber**


	25. Chapter 25: One Marauder Knows All

**Chapter 25**

* * *

***Hogwarts: Beginning of Remus' 3rd Year***

"Whoa, you actually killed two people?"

Remus sighed vigorously rubbing his hands against his face. "My mum says it wasn't my fault. I didn't intentionally kill them; it was more like I was the cause of their deaths."

"Wow, I can't believe..." James breathed.

"Listen, you three are the ones that came in here demanding answers. There is nothing you can say to me that I haven't said to myself," Remus snapped.

James looked down at his feet. "I didn't mean it like that. I just cannot believe how you have been able to deal with this your entire life and then for your mum to drop information like this on you over the summer is just...incredible."

"I can see why you were placed into Gryffindor," Peter murmured not wanting Remus to snap at him.

"I agree with Pete," Sirius nodded. "I was brave us you to actually tell us, and it is brave of you to have to live with all of this. I don't know what I would do if I were in your situation. I'm sure my parents probably would have killed me right after I was bitten." Sirius' face turned sour talking about his family.

"So what happened after your mum told you," James carefully pressed. He could sense that Remus was coming close to ending the conversation with them.

"Well, I cried, screamed, and broke a few things," Remus shuttered at the memory of yelling at Becky a few months prior. He still hadn't heard from her after he yelled at her to leave.

"After a few days my mum decided that we had to get me out of the house in order to decrease my 'grumpy attitude'," Remus continued. "So she decided to take me to the zoo. We spent all day there, but I kept coming back to the hippopotamuses because I too felt like I was hiding this entire piece of myself underwater away from the eyes of the public."

"So what you're saying is that you wanted to turn into a...grump-a-potamus," Sirius stated trying to hide the small smile that was forming on his face.

"That's it," Remus snapped getting up to leave the dorm. "I'm done answering your questions."

"Thanks, Sirius," James and Peter sarcastically said as soon as Remus had left the room.

* * *

***Current Time***

"Ugh, bugger off."

"Come on, Moony. Time for breakfast."

"I'll break your face fast if you don't leave me alone and let me sleep," Remus grumbled. He shifted a little and immediately regretted it when he felt the crisp sheets of the Hospital Wing chafe against his sensitive skin.

"I got just as much sleep as you and I'm not being a grump-a-potamus."

Remus opened one eye and attempted to glare at his so called friend. "And I suppose having every bone in my body shatter and reform...twice...counts for nothing."

"Not in my book," Sirius shrugged as he snatched a sausage off of Remus plate.

"Did you wake me up for me to watch you eat my food or did you actually have something relevant to share," Remus growled. He was not in the best of moods after the transformations and it didn't help that his date with Becky had been cut short because of the imbeciles he calls friends. Remus knew he had a limited amount of time for the date, but he didn't think it was fair that it had been cut shorter due to the Marauder invasion.

Sirius shrugged, dismissing Remus' foul mood. "Madam Poppy wanted you to take a pain alleviating draft with breakfast. Plus it's not like you were actually going to eat that sausage anyway."

"It's still common courteously to ask before taking food off of someone's plate."

"I think we're way past expecting Sirius to be courteous," James chuckled from his perch on the windowsill.

Remus groaned noticing James on the windowsill and standing at the foot of the bed for the first time. "I suppose asking for some peace and quiet while I eat my breakfast would be out of the question."

"Of course, mate," Sirius exclaimed earning a disgruntled look from Madam Pomfrey. "What kind of friends would we be if we allowed you to eat alone?"

"Better friends than you were last night," Remus snapped again.

"Are you still on that," Sirius sighed sitting on the edge of Remus' bed. "We apologized last night for that."

"You ruined my date!"

Sirius shot up from the bed and took a couple of steps back, arms raised in surrender. "How were we to know you were going to push the poor girl out the window?"

"I did not push her out the window."

"Don't argue with him," Peter cried not wanting to feel the wrath of the werewolf still lingering behind the surface. Peter also didn't want his friend's knowing who came out of that window because he respected Remus too much to divulge who he talked to last night.

"I would have to agree with Mr. Pettigrew." Madam Pomfrey bustled over to the group placing another potion next to Remus' breakfast tray. "Either you boys leave or you allow Mr. Lupin to eat in peace."

"We promise to allow Remus to eat in peace so he can gather his strength." James jumped off of the sill and placed his hand over his heart to show Madam Pomfrey the sincerity of his words.

Remus rolled his eyes and stabbed his eggs with his fork.

"Good. Now, Remus dear, when you are finished eating, take both potions. One will help take the edge off the pain and the other will help you relax so you can sleep." Remus nodded with a mouthful of food, satisfying the matron's caring thoughts.

"Good one, James," Sirius praised his friend while taking another sausage from the tray in front of his friend.

"Damn it. Bad dog." Remus smacked the back of the hand, which was stealing food, with the fork. "At least have the decency to pilfer from my plate until I am finished."

"Do you know how difficult it is to house train him," James asked leaning against the window again. "Padfoot, leave Remus alone. We can feed you again once he falls asleep."

Remus nodded in thanks as he continued to shovel food into his mouth. He didn't realize how hungry he was until the first moral of food had touched his tongue, awakening his dormant taste buds.

James, Sirius, and Peter watched their friend devour his meal as if it was the first one he had been allowed in years. Even though they knew Remus was safe in Madam Pomfrey's caring hand, the three Gryffindor's refused to leave their friend's side.

Once the last bit of non-meat product had disappeared from the plate, Remus downed the first goblet of medicinal liquid. Immediately the pain he felt due to his still heightened senses diminished. Remus eagerly grabbed the second goblet in hope that he would be able to get back to sleep quickly. He raised the goblet to his friends in cheers before allowing the stale tang of the calming draft to flow down his throat.

Within a couple of seconds, Remus had fallen asleep.

"I think Madam P laced that calming draft with a sleeping potion as well. Usually it takes him longer to fall asleep," Sirius said reaching out to poke his sleeping friend, but Peter hit his hand away.

"Will you people stop doing that," Sirius cried out cradling his hand.

"She probably gave his something stronger because you kept agitating him," Peter explained. "As they say, just leave a sleeping werewolf lie."

Sirius huffed in frustration, throwing himself into a seat next to Remus' bed.

Suddenly the doors to the Hospital Wing flew open and two girls came hurrying through. They spotted were the three maraurders were standing and made their way straight over to the boys.

"How is he doing," Lily asked Peter who was the closest.

"Fine," Peter said. He never gave length answers when girls were present, especially the beautiful girl of James' affections.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but what are you two doing here." Sirius quirked his eyebrows at the two girls now standing beside Remus' sterile white bed.

"Well, we were eating breakfast together and then we heard that Remus was in the Hospital Wing. I didn't want to just leave Rebecca there so she came with me."

"I wasn't eating breakfast with you...ow. Lily you stood on my foot."

"It was a subtle hint for you to go along with my story."

"And why, pray tell, did you have to come up with such a story?"

Lily looked between all of the boys. James was looking at her with soft inquiring eyes, Sirius looked like he had just gotten out of a detention, and Peter was staring at Becky like he had seen a ghost.

"I heard Remus was in the Hospital Wing again and I...er...needed some backup just in case you boys got out of hand," Lily partially lied. It was true that she was checking on Remus, but she also thought Becky should come see him as well. Lily knew that Becky didn't know about Remus, but she didn't want the newest Hufflepuff to be upset with the werewolf for standing her up.

While the three conscious boys and Lily began to argue, Becky snuck closer to where her friend was laying. She looked down at his pale sleeping face and silently wondered why he was sick yet again. Him, getting sick, happened so often Becky often wondered if he had some kind of condition.

Becky made a mental note to check the library for any books that might help her figure it out. If she could piece together why Remus always got sick, than she would be able to help him.

Before turning back to the others, Becky softly brushed some hair away from Remus' face and behind his ear. The small action did not go unnoticed by James who had the best vantage point from his position at the window.

James continued to watch Becky, only half listening to Lily and Sirius argue about something dealing with 'manners and showing respect.' In other words, it was not a new conversation between the two of them.

"So," James began causing Becky to jump slightly. "How do you know Remus?"

Becky blushed. "Um, he helped me with my homework the other day..."

"Are you sure homework is the only thing the two of you share," James said quietly so the others would not hear him.

"Y-yes..."

"Rebecca, I saw the two of you yesterday."

"When," Becky questioned, her eyes scanning James' face for any indicator of bluffing.

"Normally a guy does not intentionally touch a girl's hand when they walk by unless the two of them know each other fairly well. And I assume, since you didn't deny being with him, that you were his date," James smirked.

"I am not going to confirm or deny anything of the sort," Becky replied mirroring James' smirk.

"I could give you a detention if you refuse to tell me. I am Head Boy after all."

"You would abuse your power like that? For shame, James Potter. What would Lily think?"

"What Lily doesn't know can't hurt her, right?"

"Will the two of you stop flirting," Sirius' voice broke through. "Lily and I are trying to have a nice conversation here and they two of you are ruining it for us."

"Shut up, Black." Lily snapped. "Come on, Rebecca, we have better places to be than to hang around with _them_."

Becky nodded, giving one last look behind her to her sleeping best friend before following Lily to the doors out of the Hospital Wing.

"Oh and one more thing. I am tired of being an owl for all of you. Someone really needs to teach that bird of Remus' to deliver the letter to the intended, not me," Lily said with a huff, quickly grabbing the letter out of Becky's pocket without any of the Marauders noticing where it came from and tossed it onto the foot of the bed.

Lily tried to pull Becky out of the Hospital Wing before the girl made too much of a fuss about the letter. Before Lily could fully pull Becky through the doors, Peter shouted out to them.

"Hey, Bec—Rebecca!"

"Yeah," Becky said momentarily distracted from ranting at Lily.

"Er, I just wanted to say thanks for the chocolate yesterday." Peter couldn't help himself. He knew Becky's voice had sounded familiar. It was the same voice of the girl who was covered in paint at Remus' house, it was the same voice of the disillusioned girl who fell on him yesterday. Rebecca, the new sixth year Hufflepuff, had the exact same voice of Becky the mystery girl.

Becky's eyes widened confirming what Peter suspected. Becky was amazed that Peter had just pieced together the puzzle and figured out who she was.

Lily gave Becky's sleeve another tug effectively snapping Becky out of her stupor. "Yeah...er...yeah, no problem, Peter."

With that, Becky and Lily left the infirmary.

As soon as the doors closed and the girls could no longer hear, Sirius immediately turned to Peter. "What was that all about?"

"What," Peter tried to act nonchalant leaning against the small bed post.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. What was with that chocolate comment?"

Peter looked between his expectant friends, wondering how he could word his reply without giving too much away. "Er...well...you see...she...er..."

"Com'on, Pete. Tell us," Sirius said grabbing Peter's shoulders as if attempting to shake the information out of the boy.

"We ran into each other yesterday at Hogsmead. She had gotten separated from Lily, because she was with the two of you, and she was hurrying back to the castle. I helped her, so she gave me a piece of chocolate from Honeydukes. There, happy?"

"Not remotely," Sirius answered. "But you know what would make me especially happy? Reading this letter." Sirius held up the letter that Lily had discarded on top of Remus' sheets.

"It's addressed to Remus, mate," James said. "You remember the last time we opened his mail without his permission?"

"I may have a small recollection of a black eye," Sirius said with an unconcerned shrug. "Plus, I'm guessing this letter is technically for me anyway."

"You're still writing to her?" James grabbed the letter out of Sirius hands. "Mate, you need to stop that."

"Why it's not harming anyone. It's just a bit of fun." Sirius lunged for the letter effectively knocking James and the tray of food to the ground.

The letter skirted under the bed and Sirius wormed his way under just as Madam Pomfrey came out of her office to see what the ruckus was about. She saw Peter attempting to hind behind the bed post and James sprawled out on the floor covered in food; she could not see Sirius who was frozen under the bed.

Madam Pomfrey did nothing except slowly shake her had at the now familiar antics of the Marauders. It was something she dealt with every month and it did not seem to matter if she told the boys to leave because they would always come back.

Without a word the matron turned away from the boys and went back into her office.

"Now without further ado," Sirius muffled voice drifted. "_Dear Remus, I can't seem to sleep tonight. The wolves are out again and every time they howl it sends shivers up my spine. And it terrifies me. I know mum says they won't harm me, but I can't help being scared. Every time I hear them, it reminds me of my father and the last time I remember seeing him..." _

Sirius' drifted off. There was silence for a couple of minute before Sirius re-emerged from his hiding spot.

James noticed the disheartened look on his friend's face. "Sirius, what does the rest of it say?"

"It goes on saying how she can't tell her friends, and maybe if her dad hadn't died she wouldn't be afraid. This is terrible," Sirius said handing the letter over to James for him and Peter to read.

"_I suppose the best I can do right now is to sit and wait in bed until the sun rises and the wolves go home. Then I will be able to send this letter without being scare out of my wits. Thank you once again for allowing me to "cry" on your "shoulder." I do feel a little better (at least I'm not trembling as much). Always, Becky_," James finished reading out loud. He looked between his friends. Each of them were showing concern.

"Merlin, she's terrified of wolves," Peter whispered between the three of them.

"What do you mean Becky is terrified of wolves?"

James, Peter, and Sirius all turned to see Remus fully awake and sitting up staring at the three of them with a sceptical yet heartbroken gleam in his tired eyes.

* * *

**A/N: So Peter knows everything, James knows half of it, and Sirius is still in the dark about most of it.  
Difficult times are coming...**

**Thank you to everyone to reviewed, favourited, alerted, and voted on the poll. I can't believe all of the response I have been getting for this story. All of you are amazing!**

**Don't forget to vote on the poll if you haven't already...How should Becky find out about Remus being a werewolf?**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	26. Chapter 26: Hospital Wing

**Chapter 26**

* * *

***Jane Lupin and Nancy James-Fournier conversation when Remus was 12 years old***

"Do you think he is ever going to tell her," Nancy asked her friend from the porch.

"I honestly don't know," Jane replied shaking her head. "I knew he wasn't going to handle the news well, but he didn't have to take his frustration out on Becky."

"She's locked herself in my bedroom for the past four days. I'm worried she is going to have permanent tear marks on her face if she doesn't stop crying," Nancy sighed.

"Did I do wrong telling him about them...about how they died," Jane asked lowering herself into the porch swing.

Nancy went up the steps to comfort her friend. "You did what you thought was right. He was going to find out eventually. It's better that he knows now than later."

"How can you be so understanding," Jane whispered. The soft rocking of the swing was lulling her into a state of calm as she sat.

"I guess you become a little more understanding once you find out there is more suffering in this world than one ever thought possible. Laurent always told me that the wizarding world had its share of pain and suffering just like the world I grew up in," Nancy explained.

"Have you told her about what happened that night?"

"I told her it was a fluke. I said it was during the time of year when food wasn't abundant and wolves tend to come into the city to find food. I think I made her more afraid of wolves than she had been before, but I didn't want to completely lie to her," Nancy answered. She could feel her throat constricting with emotion.

"That's just going to make it harder for Remus once he does decide to tell her the truth," Jane nodded. She pulled Nancy into a hug and the two of them sat in that comforting embrace as the porch swing gently rocked.

Both women thinking about the difficulties that would lie ahead for their children once the truth finally came out.

* * *

***Current Time***

"What do you mean Becky is terrified of wolves," Remus questioned again when his friends didn't answer him the first time. "Fine, if you won't answer that question then maybe you will answer this one...where did you get that letter?"

Sirius looked over at James and Peter, who were both avoiding eye contact with anyone else in the room. "Er...um...Lily delivered it?"

"Why would Lily deliver a letter from Becky," Remus wondered out loud.

"It had something to do with your owl delivering it during breakfast and you not being there," Peter murmured. However, like Sirius it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"Give me the letter," Remus demanded.

Peter stalled a few seconds by pretending to smooth out the letter's edges, but handed it to Remus when Remus began to growl Peter's name in irritation.

Remus snatched the letter from Peter's out stretched hands and began to hungrily read what his best friend had to say in regards to wolves. The more Remus read the more the lines in his face creases and the mischievous sparkle in his eyes dissipated. Then his heart nearly stopped when he came to the portion reading: "..._Maybe if dad hadn't died that night, I would have these irrational wolf trepidations. As I re-read over this, I sound so crazy. I really shouldn't be saying all of this to you, but I had to tell someone and I couldn't tell my boyfriend..."_

Remus re-read those few sentences at least five times before allowing his mind to wrap around what was written. There were two things Remus realized in that little bit of writing. One Becky's fear of wolves increased exponentially the night her father died and two this letter was not intended for Remus.

"Why couldn't she tell me this," Remus' questioned mostly to himself. His voice started to break as he kept repeating, "I don't understand why."

James braved asking the question he knew was on everyone's mind. "Did you ever tell her that you're a werewolf?"

"No, that's not the point..."

"She is capable of keeping secrets too," Sirius interjected. "She probably didn't want to worry you or think that she had some irrational fear. She said so in the letter."

"But this letter wasn't for me," Remus seethed. He ripped the covers off his body and attempted to stand. However, his body was still feeble from the night before.

With his quick reflexes, James stepped forward and caught Remus under the arms before he could crumple to the ground in weakness.

"Of course, the letter is for you," Sirius replied nervously, having a feeling the letter was actually for him. "Look here, it's addressed to you."

"No, it's not. So which one of you was she writing to?" Remus attempted to push James' hands away, but he couldn't manage in his current state.

Remus finally managed to manoeuvre out of his friend's grasp. He stumbled a bit, but managed to remain standing.

"Mate, you aren't steady enough," Sirius called after him. "You have to stay here."

"I have to find her. I have to explain. She deserves to know why wolves scare her."

"Find who? Find Becky," Sirius asked catching up to Remus and pulling to a stop. "You can't leave. She's in France. You can't just leave to go to France."

"No, she's..." Remus began. However he was cut off by Peter. "Remus stop! You can't just go find Becky. Think about how she would feel if you all of a sudden told her you what you are once a month. And think about _the girl_ you went on a date with...how would_ she_ react to this kind of information?"

Sirius stepped back from the situation and allowed Peter to handle their distraught friend.

"You know," Remus whispered only loud enough for Peter to hear.

"I was able to recognize her voice from the summer after she came out of the Three Broomsticks window yesterday."

"Then I have to find her."

"She was here earlier, Remus," Peter explained. "She was more upset that you were in the Hospital Wing than anything else."

"But she doesn't know why I was here?"

Peter shook his head.

Sirius took the opportunity to approach. He gently took Remus by the shoulders and led the tired werewolf back to the sterile white bed.

As soon as Remus was settled back to where he was, Madam Pomfrey appeared with James at her side.

"I heard you might need another calming draft," the matron stated. She pressed the back of her hand to Remus' forehead. "Dear, you're running a fever. You know you cannot get too anxious after a full moon. Your body hasn't been able to recuperate yet."

Madam Pomfrey handed Remus another potion. "Drink up, dear. You need your rest."

Remus was too upset to argue. He could feel the warm liquid trickle down his throat and drop into his stomach. A few seconds is all it took for the potion to absorb into his blood stream. One at a time, each part of his body seemed to relax and soon Remus' eyelids became too heavy for him to stay awake.

The remaining three marauders each let out a breath they didn't know they were holding as soon as they saw Remus close his eyes.

"Now, gentlemen," Madam Pomfrey turned to the three. "I think Mr. Lupin has had enough visiting for now. You may return after supper."

***A couple of days later***

"Remus is still in the Hospital Wing if you want to visit him."

Becky looked up to find the Head Boy creating a shadow over her paper. "And why would that be a concern to me?"

"I saw you sneaking up there last night," James said taking a seat next to Becky. He looked down over her work and smiled at the assignment she was working on for transfiguration. "You missed a key point here."

Becky quickly looked over her work and then looked over the previous paragraph she read. She saw the missing piece then scribbled it down. "Thanks, James."

"No problem," James said leaning back in his chair causing the two front legs to lift off the ground. "He's awake. I'm sure he would want to see you."

"Why would he want to see me," Becky asked playing coy. "I've only been here for about a month. I'm just the new girl."

James shook his head. "Don't give me that timid little new girl act, Rebecca. I've seen the way he brushes his hand against yours when he thinks no one else is looking. I saw the way you were looking at him the other morning before you left the Hospital with Lily."

"You've been watching us," Becky said sending a smirk in James' direction. "I feel honoured that you would take time away from watching your Lily-flower to watch me as well."

James narrowed his eyes. "Where did you hear that?"

"Please, James. Everyone in school knows you have romantic feelings for Lily. It's not difficult to miss," Becky said slightly kicking James chair causing him to almost fall back.

"No, that's not what I meant," James clarified once he regained balance on all four chair legs. "I only say Lily-flower in front of my friends.

Becky shrugged. "I may have been told by someone."

"That's it," James said getting up. He grabbed the paper Becky was writing on it, blew on it a couple of times, and then shoved the parchment into Becky's bag. "You're coming with me, new girl."

"What—"

Before Becky could utter another word James had grabbed Becky around her waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. He picked up her bag from the floor and balanced it on his opposite shoulder.

"How is this going to look if Lily sees this," Becky gasped out as best as she could from her perch, which was hindering her ability to breath.

"I have a feeling she knows I'm not interested in you," James shrugged causing Becky to bounce slightly.

"You wound me, James."

"And you, m'dear, sound like Remus."

"Breathing...getting...difficult..."

"Relax, we're nearly there."

Becky could only take James' word that they were nearly to their destination. She was not strong enough in her position to get out of James' grasp. And all she could see was James' lower back or the back of his feet as he walked.

The two of them came to a staircase. With each step, Becky could feel her ribs digging further and further into James' back. One a moment of air was allowed into her lungs before the air was knocked out once again by each step up.

"I don't have enough hands," James stopped walking. "Put your hands out so you don't hit your head too hard."

"Huh?"

James gave no other warning before he began backing up into the doors using Becky as a kind of door ram.

"Ow," Becky cried as soon as she impacted the door.

"I did warn you," James said ungracefully dismounting Becky from his shoulder. "Here we are, I brought you to your lover."

"You are a horrible human being, James Potter," Becky lay immobilized on the floor where she was dropped. "And he's not my lover."

"No," James questioned. "I could have sworn he was muttering your name in his sleep."

James cleared his throat, and attempted a dream like voice, "Rebecca...Rebecca...Rebecca, I love you."

Becky froze. She vaguely remembered something from the other day. _"Do you have any idea how much I love this chocolate...Almost as much as I love y..."_

"Earth to Rebecca," James said tapping Becky on the side of her head.

"You ruined the moment," Becky grumbled walking over to Remus' bed. "You can leave now, James."

"But—"

"Bye," Becky said waving her hands dismissively.

"Nope," James stubbornly replied crossing his arms over his chest. "Not until you tell me that you and Remus' are together."

"I believe she told you to leave," Remus said opening his eyes and looking between his two friends.

"But—"

"I'll kick yours if you don't get out right now," Remus darkly muttered.

James backed away slowly holding his hands up as if surrendering. "I will get one of you to admit it someday soon."

Becky bent down and picked up one of Remus' disgaurded shoes. She threw it in James' direction, but he dodged it easily due to his Quidditch training. He was gone before the second shoe had a chance to fly.

"Why are you throwing my shoes," Remus asked carefully avoiding Becky's eyes.

"Let's just say I was inspired by a dream," Becky replied keeping a reproachful eye on the door as if she expected James to come barging back through.

"He knows about us, doesn't he," Remus questioned looking in the same direction Becky was still facing.

Becky sighed sitting down on the edge of the bed. "He does. I didn't confirm it, but he has caught a couple of our 'couple-ly moments' like hand touches and concerned looks."

"Have you been writing to him?" Remus meant to build up to asking about the letters, but Becky was here and he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Why would I be writing to him?" Becky sent Remus a confused look.

"Don't play dumb like that. I know you have been writing to someone. I have the letter," Remus replied pulling the now worn letter from under his pillow. He had read it probably hundreds of times in the last couple of days.

Becky looked at the letter for a few seconds before she realized the letter was the one she had wrote to Sirius. The letter that Lily had delivered a few days prior.

"Who was this letter intended for," Remus asked. He could feel his temper rising to the surface as Becky refused to answer the questions. "Because it sure as hell wasn't me."

"Remus, please don't get mad," Becky said taking Remus' hand and resting it on her lap. She stroked his knuckles in a soothing fashion hoping her friend would calm down.

However, Remus did not calm down. All he could feel was the rough friction of the pads of Becky's thumb over his sensitive knuckles. He pulled his hand away as if burned.

"Telling someone not to get mad usually doesn't help the situation. Now who were you writing to? Was it James because you two seem pretty buddy-buddy just now. Or maybe it's Peter. He recognized your voice from the summer and now he knows who you are. I bet it's Peter."

"Remus, please don't get mad. I wasn't writing to them," Becky's eyes started to water as she listened to the harsh edge in her friend's voice.

"Then to whom, Becky?"

"It started out in fun. I just wanted to mess with his head for a little while. I didn't think you would get so upset about this."

"Stop avoiding the question!"

A lone tear slipped down Becky's face. "I've been knowingly writing to Sirius. He thinks I don't know."

Remus didn't notice the wet track running down Becky's face because he was trying to not let his inner animal take over his emotions. However, it was proving to be a difficult task and the wolf's anger was slipping through.

"Leave," Remus said through gritted teeth.

"I don't understand why you are acting this way. You were fine a couple of days ago," Becky sniffed. "Please, I didn't think this would bother you so much."

"Well it does," Remus replied once again through his tightly clenched jaw. "Now, _please_ leave."

Becky silently got up from the bed and hurried out of the Hospital Wing. She didn't bother looking back at Remus because she knew she couldn't face the angry look that was bound to be in his eyes.

As soon as she had made it to the stairs, she clung onto the railing and sank to the ground, tears running freely down her cheeks.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about this chapter...but the story gets a bit darker and more emotional for the next couple of chapters.**

**Thank to everyone to reviewed, alerted, and favourited! I had some amazing responses from the last chapter. So Thank you!**

**The poll will be up for one more week...so tell me/vote on how you think Becky should find out about Remus being a werewolf.**

**Always,  
orangezauber **


	27. Chapter 27: Can't or Won't?

**Chapter 27**

* * *

***Becky Age 3***

"Mum..."

"Mummy?"

Little Becky found her mother sitting at her father, Laurent's, desk. Nancy said nothing as she continued to stare at the portrait of her and Becky on the wall.

"Mummy? When is daddy coming home," Becky wondered reaching up to place a small hand on her mother's knee.

Nancy finally looked at her girl through bloodshot and puffy eyes. She grabbed the small girl pulling her into a tight embrace.

She couldn't say anything...no she wouldn't say anything. At least not yet.

* * *

***Current Time...Remus***

"C'mon, Remus, cheer up," Sirius exclaimed piling a bunch of food onto his plate. "We have Hogsmeade to look forward to in a few days."

"And the full moon a couple of days after that," Remus mumbled stabbing his food and moving it around his plate.

"Mate, I know you're upset about what happened last time, but you are going to have to eat to keep your strength up," Peter counselled, flinching every time Remus' fork hit the base of the dish creating a scraping sound.

"It won't matter," Remus muttered absentmindedly pouring his pumpkin juice over his eggs.

Sirius was about to say something, but James stopped Sirius by putting a finger to his lips indicating not to say a word. It was obvious Remus' wasn't going to eat regardless.

"Have you tried talking it out," Peter inquired.

"No," Remus replied.

"Do you think that perhaps you should," Peter continued to press.

"Pete, stop," James said with a mouthful of food. "He obviously doesn't want to talk about it."

"Well, he hasn't wanted to talk about it for the past few weeks," Sirius said. "Just tell us already because if you don't then we will have no idea how to help you."

"You of all people would be no help, Sirius," Remus snapped. "What good did you think would come out of you writing to Becky?"

"It was just a bit of fun," Sirius shrugged nonchalantly. "Plus you said so yourself, she knew it was me. So no harm done if you really think about it."

Remus sighed. There was no point at getting into it with Sirius again. The dark haired pure-blood had absolutely no idea what kind of destruction the last letter had caused.

It wasn't the fact that Becky was writing to Sirius. In fact, he was pretty proud of her that she had figured out it was Sirius' writing to her and not him. The problem was that she had turned to Sirius as a confidant and told him her deepest fear. A fear that implicated Remus in so many ways...a fear that could ruin their friendship.

Remus was pulled out of his thoughts when a puff of air tousled his hair from behind. Next thing he saw was his large grey owl sitting in front of him trying to balance on the rim of large toast holder. Remus moved his plate to the side in order to make room for Becus, who happy obliged.

Remus was struck with an idea. While Becus and Sirius fought over the last piece of bacon on James' plate, Remus pulled a small piece of parchment out of his bag on the floor. He scribbled a few sentences down and was about the give Becus, who had his feathers ruffled in frustration about losing his snack to Sirius, when a loud yell erupted from the Hufflepuff table.

"You're dating Remus Lupin!"

All heads in the Great Hall turned to see who was yelling about dating one of the marauders.

Remus briefly saw a head of brunette hair disappearing under the table.

"We really need to stop those girls from playing that weird dating game," James sighed. "This is getting ridiculous. I had one of them steal my Head Boy badge the other day and say I couldn't get it back until I agreed to go on a date with her. Her friends were laughing the entire time."

"Well, go use that Head Boy power of yours," Sirius decided. "We'll come with in case they decide to steal things again."

Remus saw his three friends getting up. He knew that Becky was involved and that the exclamation had nothing to do with the game.

Remus gave Becus a few treats from his pocket and got up to investigate with his friends. As he approached the Hufflepuff table, Remus noticed people kept looking down as if something was under them. Scanning the table where he saw the brunette disappear, Remus notice that Becky had not resurfaced and that she was probably the thing disturbing everyone underneath.

With his note in hand, Remus walked to the end of the Hufflepuff table. Then he dropped the note on the floor, gently pushing it forward for its recipient. Finally, Remus walked out of the Great Hall to wait.

* * *

***Current Time...Becky***

"Becky you have to eat something," Mellissa said, pushing plate in front of her friend's face.

"Huh," Becky looked at the food that was pushed in her direction. "Er...no thank you. I'm fine for right now."

"You have to tell us what is going on," Allie commented. "I don't think I have seen you eat a proper meal in three weeks."

Becky shrugged. "I'm just not hungry. I'll eat later. I promise."

"What do we get to do if you refuse your next meal," Mellissa asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"We could make her wear her skirt up higher," Allie suggested. "You would think someone who came from France, the fashion capital of the world, would have a little more style."

"I wear the same outfit as all of you," Becky mumbled gently tugging at her skirt as if to flatten the pleats.

"We could have her wear high-heels to all her classes for a week..."

"Or have hear dye her hair purple..."

"Or she could clean all of our wands without magic..."

"She could do our homework for us for a night..."

"Do I get a say in this," Becky inquired as her friends continued to make a list.

"No," Mellissa and Allie broke off from their listing at the same time.

Becky sighed. She looked over to the Gryffindor table subconsciously like she did every once in a while. A trickle of boisterous laughter sounded from three boys sitting at the edge of the table. Becky's eyes immediately snapped over to the direction of the laughter.

Sirius was flailing his arms in the air as he dramatically retold some story. James and Peter were practically falling on the floor with mirth.

Becky could practically hear the story based off of the ridiculous re-enactment Sirius was performing for his friends. If truth be told, she missed writing to Sirius. Ever since Remus went off the handle about the letters, Becky had hardly lifted a quill. She had received a couple of letters from Sirius, acting as Remus, but Becky never answered them. It surprised Becky that Remus hadn't told off for pretending to be him...or perhaps he did and Sirius didn't care.

Just as Becky was thinking about letters, a familiar grey owl obstructed her view.

"Hello, love," Becky cooed as she stroked Becus' feathers. Becus' gave a content shudder and hooted softly, closing his wide golden eyes.

"I wish I had an owl like him," Mellissa said. She too stroked the soft feathers framing the owl's heart shaped face. "This one is such a teddy bear."

"Better not say that too much," Becky said chuckling a little. "You might give him a big head."

One of Becus' eyes opened and gave Becky an inquisitive look which only made her laugh a bit more. Becus suddenly stuck his leg out revealing a letter and turned his head to the side as if he didn't want to acknowledge Becky anymore.

"Oh, not you too," Becky rolled her eyes at the owl who was doing a perfect impression of an irritated Remus.

Becky carefully removed the letter from its tie and Becus' took off towards the Gryffindor end of the Great Hall. Becky unravelled the letter and began reading the letter which was apparently from her mother.

_Dearest Child of Mine,_

_Yes, darling, it is your mother or have you forgotten about me since you have been at school. Your letters are always much to be desired. I dare say you might be taking a leaf out of our young neighbour's book._

_Speaking of neighbour's...REBECCA ELSIE JAMES-FOURNIER_! _WHAT ON GOD'S GREAT EARTH DO I HEAR ABOUT YOU AND REMUS DATING? ISN'T THAT SOMETHING YOU ARE USUALLY SUPPOSED TO SHARE WITH YOUR MAMA? BUT NO, I HAD TO GET MY INFORMATION FROM JANE! IF I KNEW HOW, I WOULD SEND YOU ONE OF THOSE HOWLER MONKEY LETTERS. JUST BE GLAD THAT JANE DID NOT HAVE ANY ON HAND OTHERWISE YOU WOULD BE GETTING AN EARFUL RIGHT NOW, CHILD._

_On, a happier note...I am so happy for you! It's about time the two of you got together, but if you ever withhold information of this magnitude from me again I will hide all of your art supplies so well even the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would not even be able to find them._

_Hugs and Kisses,_

_Love Always, _

_Mum_

"You're dating Remus Lupin," Ally exclaimed in such a way it was a cross between a screech and a yell.

As soon as the words had left Ally's mouth, Becky's face flushed with colour that seemed to radiate all the way down to her toes; Becky could feel her entire body ignite in embarrassment.

The entire Great Hall turned to the normally quiet Hufflepuff table to see what the commotion was about. All eyes seemed to be rooted to the spot where the yell originated and everyone was suddenly curious about who was dating the Remus Lupin.

"Shhhh," Becky whispered from under the table shaking her friend's legs to quiet them down faster. "No one was supposed to know. Not that it matters now..."

"And why wouldn't it matter," Ally asked. "What did happen after that date of yours during the last Hogsmead trip."

"I don't feel like talking about it."

"Well, the first step to talking about it is...getting out from under the table," Mellissa stated, kicking Becky lightly in the ribs to punctuate her point.

"Is anyone looking," Becky asked. "I'll only come out if no one is looking."

"I feel ridiculous talking to a table," Mellissa complained still tapping Becky with her foot. "And no one is looking anymore...except for the marauders. Oh, great Merlin. The marauders are coming over here."

"What," Becky shrieked. She tried to stand up, but momentarily forgot that she was under the table. The top of her head collided with the underside of the table with a hollow sounding 'thunk.' Becky let out a whine of pain as stars and tear erupted from her eyes. She rubbed the top of her head furiously to rid herself of the blinding pain radiating from her skull.

Three pairs of male feet were visible from Becky's position on the floor. Knowing, it was the marauders, Becky began crawling towards the end of the table where she hoped she could slip away unnoticed.

However, moving along the ranks of the Hufflepuffs from under the table proved to be a difficult task. People kept moving their legs or tapping their feet to some imaginary music. Becky had to keep from crying out when she either kicked or stepped on.

Becky was relieved when she saw the end of the table was only a couple of pairs of legs away. However, when she got to the end she could not breathe in that sweet breath of fresh air quite yet. A pair of obviously male shoes stopped her. She recognized the scruffy black shoes.

A piece of parchment was dropped to the ground and the owner of the shoes gently pushed the paper under the table with his toes. Soon the person and his shoes disappeared.

Becky sighed as she reached for the piece of parchment. She unfolded it and saw the messy and familiar script of Remus Lupin.

_B, after many days of thinking, there is something I need to tell you. Please, meet me in the charms classroom on the second floor in 15 minutes.-RL_

Becky was frozen for a minute just staring at the letter. Was she ready to talk to Remus? He seemed ready to talk to her otherwise he wouldn't have told her to meet him. However, the problem Becky was debating was whether or not she was ready for heartbreak. She had a sinking feeling that no matter what Remus wanted the conversation would end in heart break. There were too many unanswered questions for them to go back to the way things were.

Her minute of thinking was over and Becky found herself crawling over the last few legs before sucking in a sweet breath of fresh air. She got up from the floor, dusted off her hands and knees, and walked out of the Great Hall towards the second floor charms room.

She arrived at the classroom a few minutes early, but she knew Remus would already be inside waiting for her. His timing and location was ingenious. Classes began in less than 20 minutes so they wouldn't have much time to talk before students began coming in for class.

When Becky opened the door, she saw Remus standing in the middle of a row of desks, halfway into the room. "I just wanted to apologize."

"It's been three nearly four weeks since we have talked and you're apologizing now," Becky said closing the door softly behind her. "Why the change of heart after all this time?"

"I had to give myself some time to think." Remus was fidgeting with his tie around his neck as he talked.

"Time to think?" Becky rushed over to Remus and harshly grabbed his arm pulling it away from his tie so he would stop fidgeting. "Remus, I am so tired of this cycle we put ourselves through."

Becky waited for a reply, but noting came forth. Remus' fingers were still twitching in nervousness. Becky could tell he wanted to say something, but it was like every other time...he was purposefully not exposing a secret.

"No, you know what, if you're not going to actually tell me what it going on than I'm going to leave," Becky stated shaking her head slightly and shrugging her shoulders. "You wanted me to get out. I'm going to leave of my own accord this time."

"Becky, please! I'm sorry." Remus grabbed Becky's elbow to turn her around to face his once more. He hoped that his eyes would convey how truly sorry he was and hope that they would also express how badly he wanted to tell her his secrets.

"Sorry about what?"

Again Remus said nothing causing Becky to let out a growl of frustration.

"Why are you always acting so strange? It's driving me mad!"

Remus could hear the tiny crunching noises in Becky's knuckles as her joints shifted into a tightly rounded fist. However, Remus still couldn't bring himself to tell her even though he knew he was hurting her by not saying anything. "I can't help it. You have to believe me."

"Why! Why can't you help it," Becky cried out. Her demeanour changed quickly as she began to bitter laugh. "Oh, I understand. This is one of those secrets you refuse to tell me...one of those marauder things."

"I'm not the only one with secrets," Remus glared pulling the well wore letter out of his robes. He must have read the letter over 100 times since the episode in the Hospital Wing. "Why didn't you ever tell me you were afraid of wolves?"

Becky glared. "Because it's none of your business."

"It is my business. I have a right to know why my best friend, the girl I have grown up with, the person I am in love..."

"No! Don't you dare say that!" Becky stumbled backwards. She would have crumpled to the floor if she had not felt a desk behind her. "Don't say that just because you feel you have an obligation to make me talk to you again."

"It's not an obligation," Remus tried to explain. "Becky, I really do love..."

"Stop saying that! I have waited months, years even to hear you say that. I know you were about to say it in Hogsmeade, but you were interrupted. But right now is not the time," Becky could feel the prickle behind her eyes. Her voice softened as she looked into Remus' golden eyes. "After the last few weeks you're going to have to prove it to me."

"How?"

Becky took a shaky breath. "Answer me this...why are you always trying to push me away one minute and then trying to win me back the next? Why are you always sick? What is the real reason you don't eat meat? Why do you act as though I'm hurting you when I try to touch you after you've been sick? Huh? Why Remus?"

"I...I can't tell you."

"You can't or you won't?"

Remus looked down at his feet.

"That's what I thought. Now, I'm sorry Remus because I can't do this," Becky pointed between herself and Remus. "Until I can figure out what is it is you are not telling me then—"

"We're breaking up."

"It's about trust. Obviously we are not in the state of mind to trust each other right now."

Becky sniffed trying to keep the tears at bay. Remus looked as if he was trying to do the same.

"I'll tell you why I'm really afraid of wolves if you tell me why you seem like such a different person when you've been sick."

Becky let out a long breath when Remus said nothing. She nodded her head sadly, gave Remus a kiss on his cheek and left the room without glancing back.

"I'm the reason you are afraid of wolves," Remus whispered guiltily to the empty room. "It was my fault your father died."

* * *

**A/N: It has been decided...Becky will find out Remus is a werewolf on her own. Thank you to everyone who voted on the poll.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited, and alerted. **

**I might not be updating next week. I have a project due and I don't want to have to worry about updating a story as well. So I appologize in advace.**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	28. Chapter 28: A 'Furry Big Problem'

**Chapter 28**

* * *

***Remus age 8, Becky age 7***

"What do bunnies eat," Becky asked as she continued to look through the bushes behind her house. She and Remus had been chasing after a small brown rabbit for hours.

"Carrots and lettuce, I think," Remus replied shouldering his butterfly net.

"So that would make you a bunny," Becky said with a cheeky grin.

"I am not a bunny," Remus playfully shouted bringing his butterfly net down on Becky's head, effectively catching her as if she was the creature they were after.

"You're more of a bunny than I am," Becky giggled as she tried to untangle herself from the net's nylon webbing.

Remus stood next to his friend, not lifting a finger to help his friend remove the offending material. "If I'm a bunny, than you must be a bug because only bugs couldn't get out of that net."

Becky scoffed finally able to pull the net off of her head. "Well, you're just a furry little problem, aren't you, Rem?"

"I am not," Remus stated placing his hands on his hips. "You're a girl so you have more fur on top of your head than I do."

"At least I don't only eat food that bunnies do," Becky said mimicking Remus' stance.

"Well...well...you're a butt-flower," Remus said.

"What's a butt-flower," Becky genuinely asked.

"You," Remus shouted as he began to run away from Becky.

Becky spent little time debating whether or not she should chase after him because within seconds, she too had begun running.

"Get back here you 'furry little problem," Becky shouted as their game of chase pursued and their task of catching an actual rabbit was forgotten.

* * *

***Current Time: About Two Months After the Break Up***

A couple of months had passed since Remus and Becky had broken things off. The two of them would still talk off and on, but it was nothing compared to how they used to speak to each other.

The grounds were now layered in white and the students of Hogwarts were practically bouncing with excitement about the holiday break starting. Many of them were rushing around the castle doing last minute errands before the train left the next day.

Becky on the other hand, was taking residence in the library having packed all of her belongings the previous day. Becky spent most of her free time in the library doing research on possible reasons for Remus' mood changes. She had hardly moved from her spot since she got out of class a few hours previous.

"You know if you don't move soon, you might become part of the decor."

Becky looked up from her book to see a dark haired figure with glasses standing above her.

"Oh, hello, James," Becky said returning to her literary world.

"Don't sound too excited now," James chuckled reaching over to prop up the cover of the book Becky was reading. "What book has gotten you so entranced? Normally girls choose me over books."

"I'm not most girls, James," Becky said attempted to slap the Head Boy's hands away from her book.

"Obviously not," James replied with a smirk. "Most girls wouldn't be able to keep their pretty little lips shut while dating a Marauder. They would want the entire school to know they landed on of the most popular men in school."

Becky looked up from the book and looked at James. "How is it that you are able to fit through doorways with that enormous ego of yours?"

"I'm just stating the truth, love," James winked causing Becky to roll her eyes. "Now stop avoiding my question."

"You asked a question?"

"Do you not pay any attention to me at all, Rebecca?"

"Not usually."

"You have been spending too much time with Lily," James huffed. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave Becky his best pouting face.

"It seems you have been spending a lot of quality time with Lily as well," Becky said returning to her book. She was actually able to read about a half a page before James interrupted her again.

"So what are your plans over the holiday?"

Becky sighed. "Nothing much. Just spending the holidays with my mum mostly."

"Well, I'm going over to Remus' for a few days," James gave Becky a cheeky smile, "I'm sure he would be beyond thrilled if you came over."

"I'm sure he would," Becky replied sarcastically finally closing her book unintentionally revealing the title '_Magic Conditions and Medical Marvels' _to James.

"Okay, now I have to know. What is with the books? I have hardly seen you these past two months because you have locked yourself in the library going through book after book," James said quickly grabbing the book off of the table before Becky could hide it in her bag. "I know for a fact that this stuff is not sixth year work."

"I'm just interested in the stuff," Becky said with a shrug. She really didn't feel like explaining to James why she was looking for answers in magical medical books. Then again, she thought, he might be able to give some valuable information about Remus, him being a Marauder.

"Do you know of any conditions that alter a person mood and change their personality?"

James nearly choked with surprise at Becky's question. "W-what? Why would you assume I would know something about that?"

"Well, you're a seventh year, you're very knowledgeable," Becky began to list.

"Oh, do go on," James said letting his face melt into a smirk. "You know if you are trying to deflate my ego, you are doing a pretty lousy job."

"Usually I can get information out of Remus if I complement him," Becky mumbled.

"What was that about Remus," James wondered out loud. He moved in closer to Becky hoping that by making her feel uncomfortable by his proximity that she would repeat what she had just said.

"I said nothing of any consequence," Becky muttered. She was beginning to turn red from how close James' face was from hers. If anyone were to see them, they might get the wrong idea.

"Come on, Rebecca. You can tell me anything. I don't bite like some people," James quietly laughed at his own joke.

Becky couldn't say anything. She tried to tell James to give her some breathing room, but still his proximity made her nervous.

James continued to press forward, whispering in Becky's ear. "I'm sure you've let Remus closer than this. It shouldn't make much of a difference..."

"Remus and I have known each other forever. So of course I wouldn't be as nervous with him being close to me," Becky blurted out.

James immediately pulled away. His eyes were wide and the smirk from his lips disappeared. "What?"

Becky realized too late what she had just said. "What?"

"You just said that you and Remus have..."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did." James smile returned. "I just wanted you to admit that you and Remus were dating. I never thought that you would actually be the _Becky_."

Becky just continued to stare at James as he continued to ramble. "I mean it makes sense now that I think about it. The way Remus would act around you, the fact that you were outside Florish and Blots the first day I met you, and not to mention your name being Rebecca. Why didn't I see it before?"

"James we have to go. The train will be arriving tomorrow and I don't feel like being woken up at four in the morning when you actually start packing." Remus had come up behind the two. He tried his best to be nonchalant around Becky.

James looked between the two and broke out into an even wider grin, if that was possible.

Remus looked at his friend with sceptical eyes. When James was grinning like a mad man, it was never a good sign. "What has gotten in to you? Did Lily actually agree to see you over the holiday?"

"No, not yet," James quickly replied waving his hand in the air as if dismissing the Lily comment. "_Becky_, here, was just telling me some interesting details regarding your childhood. Very, very, interesting...isn't that right, _Becky_?"

"I have to go," Becky muttered and tried to leave. However, James caught Becky by the elbow keeping the girl in place.

"You know," Remus questioned James.

"Yes, and thank Merlin, too," James said still holding onto Becky. "Because now it makes much more sense why you became so distraught and why you stopped mentioning Becky's name. Who else knows?"

"Peter," Becky answered. "He found out after Remus and I had our first date in Hogsmead."

"Becky," Remus hissed.

"Oh, shut up, Remus," Becky snapped. "He already knows. There's no point in hiding it from him any longer."

"He wasn't supposed to find out, _Rebecca_," Remus said sending a glare in Becky's direction.

"Well, if you didn't keep such a tight lid on your stupid secrets than we wouldn't be having this problem, now would we," Becky questioned with an edge to her voice.

"I'm not the only one who has been keeping secrets," Remus snapped.

"Don't get mad at me," Becky scoffed pulling her arm out of James' grasp. "At least my secret doesn't affect our friendship."

James stepped between the two angry friends. "I have no idea what is going on, but I do know that the two of you need to move this little 'love fest' outside."

Madam Prince was quickly making her way over to the trio. Her face was contorted into a mask of displeasure at the disruption of her haven of silence. James was able to pull his friends out of the library before Madam Prince had the pleasure of kicking them out.

"I can't believe I am the one saying this," James began as soon as they were in the hall. "But the two of you need to stop acting like children and get over these petty differences. I hardly know you Becky, but I can see that this fight is taking a toll on you just as much as it is on Remus."

"I'm just trying to figure things out," Becky said pulling her bag higher up on her shoulder. "For right now, I'm tired. I'm sure I will see you both on the train tomorrow."

With that, Becky left the two Gryffindors standing in the hall staring after her.

"I still can't believe I didn't figure it out before," James said breaking the silence. "Becky was here this whole time and I never noticed. Why didn't you want us to know about her?"

Remus turned towards James. "Because I haven't told her about me being a werewolf and I didn't want one of you to accidently let it slip."

"You've never told her," James gasped out. "That would explain why she was asking me questions about reason for changes in mood and how that can be related to magic."

"It's complicated," Remus sighed. "Our mums promised they would let me tell Becky when I was ready, but now I fear I waited too long. From now on, no matter if and when I tell her it's going to end in her not talking to me."

"But she's not talking to you now," James pointed out. "How could matters get any worse?"

"Let's just say because I have waited so long to tell her, 'my furry little problem' is now a 'furry big problem.'"

* * *

**A/N: Happy Easter everyone. I felt the need to add something in the flashback about bunnies.**

**This isn't as long as I had anticipated it would be, but I do hope James finding out about Becky makes up for it (at least a little bit). This chapter is also supposed to show James' growth in maturity...sort of ;-)**

**Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing this story! It really makes my day knowing that people appreciate this story as much as they do!**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	29. Chapter 29: The Medical Library

**A/N: This is a little different set up than normal. The 'flashback' is closer to the end of the chapter. And I appologize in advance...**

**Chapter 29**

* * *

***Current Time***

"Have a great break, Becky."

"Thanks, Lily. You too," Becky smiled at the head girl as the stepped off of the train.

Lily pulled Becky to the side slightly. "Listen Becky if you need me, I'm only an owl away. I know things with Remus are difficult and his aversion to telling you about him..."

"Rebecca! Over here, my sweet baby girl!"

Becky was pulled away from her conversation from Lily when they heard a woman screaming her name from across the platform.

"Is that your mum," Mellissa asked giving her trunk one last tug off the train. She watched the older blond frantically wave her arms above her head.

"If I said no, would this situation be less embarrassing for me," Becky questioned with an affectionate smile. The truth was, it took a lot for Becky to get embarrassed by her mum and if Nancy hadn't done this exact thing each year, then Becky was sure she would have been bright red.

"You don't really look like your mum," Sasha said scrunching here eyes trying to find a resemblance.

"Or act like her," Mellissa laughed earning a sharp punch to the shoulder. "Ow!"

"I have my mum's eyes and my father's subtle ways of greetings," Becky chuckled.

"Haha. You are so funny," Allie added sarcastically. "And I think you are more like your mother in looks and in personality than you know."

"I bet she actually takes after a hunky Remus Lupin," Mellissa giggled again. "Becky has some great taste in looks and personality, if you ask me."

"Is that a complement," Becky asked attempting to raise her eyebrow. She never could get the hang of that. "Or are you just fishing for information?"

"A little bit of both."

The girls laughed. Becky gave her each of her friends a quick hug, promising to write them over the break. When she hugged Lily, the red head reminded her that she was only an owl away.

Becky promised Lily she would send Becus if needed before she walked over to her mother. When approaching, Becky could see the enormous grin on her mother's face. Her arms were poised in the air waiting for a hug, as if Becky was returning to her mother's arms for the first time in years, instead of a few months.

"Come on, let's go. Jason is waiting in the car for us," Nancy said attempting to lift her daughter's trunk, but quickly giving up at its weight. "I'll just leave that for your young muscles to carry."

"Thanks mum," Becky sarcastically replied. "Why did you invite Jason to come pick me up?"

"He wanted to spend more time with you," Nancy explained. "Is there a problem with the man in my life wanting to spend more time getting to know my beautiful daughter?"

"Couldn't he have wanted to do something normal like, say...I don't know...have dinner with me after I get home," Becky suggested ignoring her mother's other comments. It wasn't that she didn't like her mum's boyfriend. She just didn't know him and Becky thought it was a bit strange that this guy had come with her mother to pick up two teenagers from a magical school.

"Now where is that friend of yours," Nancy asked her daughter scanning the sea of student for a sandy haired male. "Oh, I think I see him. Remus! Remus, darling over here!"

Remus immediately turned when he heard his name being called across the platform. He looked towards the entrance and saw a blond woman he had known for most of his life. He could also see a petite brunette standing next to the woman, shaking with silent laughter.

Remus caught Becky's eyes, but as soon as their eyes met Becky looked away.

"Who's the blonde," Sirius asked resting his chin on Remus shoulder watching Nancy wave her arms in their direction. "I think she is trying to get your attention."

"What gave you that idea," Remus laughed still watching his best friend's mother attempt to beckon him over in her own ridiculous yet motherly way. "She's my mum's best friend. I'm guessing mum couldn't get out of work so Nancy volunteered to come get me."

"Isn't that poetic," James sighed dramtically. "Your mum's best friend is your best friend's mum."

"How would you know that," Remus asked before walking away.

"Well, she kind of looks like Bec—" James cut off by a sharp jab to his shoulder. He looked over to see Peter shaking his head, discouraging his friend from revealing Remus and Becky's secret.

"Huh," Sirius said looking between his three friends. However, he was distracted when Becky finally decided to grace the marauders with her presence.

"Hello, gentlemen," Becky smiled. "I just thought I would say goodbye before I left for break."

James laughed into his hand. "She called us gentlemen."

"And here I thought you were showing some maturity," Becky sighed and shook her head sadly. "I'll have to inform Lily of this new development. Just when she was starting to think that you were changing."

"You couldn't tell her," James gasped. His eyes becoming as wide as the biscuits McGonagall keeps in her office.

"No, I'm just messing with you James," Becky smirked. "I wouldn't tell your precious Lily-flower."

"You're a horrible person, Rebecca Fourneir," James growled in Becky's ear as he reached her for a hug. "Are you sure you wouldn't actually tell Lily?"

"I am positive I will not tell her. Plus, I wouldn't want to be known as a terrible person," Becky smiled as she pulled out of the hug. She then turned to Peter giving him a small peck on the cheek. "Bye, Pete. I'll see you soon."

"Are my eyes deceiving me," Sirius asked. "Did Peter just get his first kiss?"

"Shut up, Sirius," Peter mumbled. His face had a slight tinge of pink.

Becky turned to James again jabbing a thumb at Sirius. "I think he's the one who deserves the terrible person award."

"I resemble that remark," Sirius said with a smirk.

The other three Marauders and Becky just shook their heads at Sirius' comment.

Then Sirius suddenly grabbed Becky's hand, raising it to his lips. "Now, Miss Fournier, where is my kiss or hug."

Becky chuckled and snatched her hand back from Sirius before he could touch it with his lips. "I would be a little nicer to your friends, Sirius. Especially, Pete. He's a good friend.

The tips of Peter's ears darkened even more at the positive comment Becky bestowed upon him.

Becky turned back to Sirius. "Anyway, I don't think a sigh of intimacy would be appropriate regardless of how innocent you may think it is Sirius. I wouldn't want to make these other gentlemen too jealous of my attention towards you."

Sirius laughed not seeing the look Becky sent towards Remus. "What ever you say, Rebecca."

"Anyway, I'll see all of you later," Becky said. She looked at Remus again and quickly tilted her head towards her mother in a silent sign for him to follow.

Remus waited a couple of beats as he watched Becky walk away. Once she was safely on the other side of the barrier, Remus finally said goodbye to his friends.

"Well, I'm heading out now," Remus said still looking in the direction where Becky disappeared. "I'll see you guys in a couple of days."

James and Peter not missing the exchange between Remus and his best friend said 'good luck,' while Sirius yelled 'goodbye' at the top of his lungs effectively frightening half of the people stills on the platform.

"Ready to go, Remus dear," Nancy asked engulfing Remus in a giant hug. "Becky said the platform was making her claustrophobic."

"I highly doubt that was the reason," Remus mumbled following Nancy out of the platform.

As soon as Nancy and Remus were had reappeared on King's Cross, the saw Becky leaning against the column marking platform 10. She was reading a book, looking as if she was just a normal passenger waiting for her train.

Becky looked up from her book and smiled. "Well, it took the two of you long enough."

"You could have gone to wait for us with Jason," Nancy answered.

"I rather spent my time with Remus," Becky said. Her mother laughed leading the two teenagers out of the station passing frantic muggles trying to catch their trains.

"That was uncalled for," Remus whispered with an edge to his voice.

"Whatever do you mean, Remus," Becky said innocently while batting her eyelashes. "I thought you would be happy that I wanted to spend my time with you."

"I don't what you meant by it, Becky. And you meant it as no complement," Remus said.

"Perhaps I didn't," Becky said side stepping to avoid a muggle business man who was not paying any attention to where or who he was rushing into. Becky was practically pushed into Remus' arms.

Remus couldn't help, but smile. It had been months since he had been this close to Becky. He didn't care that they were surrounded by muggles or even that they had been fighting.

"Rebecca!" Someone yelled from a short distance away effectively pulling Remus out of his temporary moment of remembrance.

"Jason," Becky said without enthusiasm as she continued to stare into Remus' eyes.

"Over here, Rebecca," Jason said with a laugh. "Can I grab your trunk for you? You mum said it was a little heavy."

"She a bit of a weakling," Becky said pulling away from Remus and laying a hand on Jason's shoulder. "You'll get used to it."

"Do they always talk about each other like that," Jason asked Remus. The two of them watched as Nancy pinched Becky's cheeks and Becky attempting to do the same to her mother.

Remus shrugged. "They even talk to me like that. Like Becky said, 'you'll get used to it. I'm Remus, by the way." Remus held out his hand in greeting.

"Ah, you're Jane's son," Jason said grasping Remus' hand in a firm shake. "It's nice to finally meet you. Your mother and Nancy speak very highly of you."

"I'd be worried if my mum spoke poorly of me," Remus chuckled, Jason joined him.

"Look at my two boy's getting along," Nancy said when Remus and Jason approached. She pinched both of their cheeks then kissed the pink marks her fingers made.

The ride back their neighbourhood was fast. Becky was thankful her mum had filled all of the awkward silences that were sure to have happened if Becky and Remus were to talk to each other.

Becky rushed from the car and ran up her porch steps. Being in close quarters with Remus was suffocating. She wanted to be with him again so badly. She wanted to be able to talk to him without wondering what he was hiding.

"Go get cleaned up, babe," Nancy said coming up behind Becky. "We're having a welcome home dinner at Jane's tonight."

"Jane's not going to care what I look like," Becky said walking into the house nearly tripping over her trunk that Jason had brought in for her. "Shit."

"Now, I don't know if I am supposed to scold you or not," Jason said helping Becky pull her offending trunk to the stairs. "Would you like me to help you get this up the stairs."

"No, I'll just ask Rem..." Becky paused. "On second thought, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Jason smiled hoisting the trunk up the stairs.

Nancy came up to her daughter shaking her head. "You and Remus need to get over this, baby girl." Nancy called up the stairs. "Jason! Do you mind getting the pies ready? I need to help Becky with something before we head next door."

Nancy pulled Becky into the office next to the stairs. The office that she kept the same since the day her husband had died thirteen years previous. She closed the door behind her as to not be over heard. "Rebecca, sweetheart, I know you and Remus as going through a tough time and I know you don't want to talk about it. These kinds of things in a person's life seem devastating, but please keep in mind whatever comes out of this that you will give the poor boy a chance."

"I gave him plenty of chances, mum," Becky scoffed walking over to her father's desk and opening the top draw to distract herself. "There's something he's hiding. I have to find out, mum. It's killing me not knowing."

Becky took a couple of deep breaths rolling the pencils, pens, and brushes in the bottom of the drawer. "I think I'm going to pass on dinner tonight."

Nancy nodded in understanding. "I'll tell Jane you weren't feeling well." Nancy kissed Becky on the forehead and left.

"...you aren't feeling well..." Becky muttered to herself. There was something familiar about that phrase. It was the phrase that she had heard multiple times being applied to Remus.

Becky turned away from her father's desk and wandered over to his extensive book collection lining the wall. His collection was mostly made up of medical books from his days as a student. Becky read many of the spines of the books before choosing three that looked promising. The first book title read,'Standard Spells for Sicknesses.'

"_You don't look well..."_

"_Your mum said you weren't feeling well..."_

"_You look terrible. Let's get you back to your room before you collapse..."_

Becky's mind filled with words she had once spoken to Remus about his frequent illnesses. She flipped through the book, but nothing really stood out to her as to what would be causing the frequent sickness. It was always the same thing, with always the same answers so it couldn't be something common.

Becky opened the second book and began to scan through the pages, 'Medicinal Means for Altering Mood,'

"_I don't understand why you are acting this way...you were fine a couple of days ago."_

"_I've just been sick."_

"_You can't catch what I have from a kiss..."_

"_Oh, you know...his condition."_

"_You're eyes, they're almost black."_

"_Answer me this...why are you always trying to push me away one minute and then trying to win me back the next? Why are you always sick? What is the real reason you don't eat meat? Why do you act as though I'm hurting you when I try to touch you after you've been sick?"_

Again, the book did not really have the answers Becky was looking for. Becky was beginning to become frustrated. She had spent two months in the library looking for answers. She did not want to spend her entire break going through her father's old books just to come up empty handed.

The words kept flooding Becky's head. Pieces of conversations she had over the years, from various people, rushed before her. It was as if the conversations were on repeat inside her head.

Slowly, Becky felt it was all starting to come together. She almost understood it. The answer was in her grasp.

Becky looked up at the charcoal drawing she had created in honour of her father. She had finished it before she started at Hogwarts; it was the drawing she was working on when she had come into the office over the summer to find the 'Everlast' charcoal.

'Papa,' Becky whispered to the empty room. She picked up her father's favourite painting instrument and pulled off the brush tip, twirling the familiar wand between her fingers. 'Papa, there has to be something I'm overlooking. It cannot be this difficult of an answer.'

Becky pulled the last of the three books towards her and stared at the title page, 'Bites, Scraps, and Stings: Remedies for the Not So Human Condition.'

Before diving into the technical jargon of the next medical book, Becky allowed herself to look over the drawing one last time. The memories caused her eyes to water slightly as she looked upon the face of her father staring out at the full moon...

The full moon...

"_...Mum says the wolves won't harm me..."_

"_He was attacked by wolves."_

"_I'll tell you why I'm really afraid of wolves if you tell me why you seem like such a different person when you've been sick."_

"_I think there are two sides to you, Remus Lupin...You have no idea..."_

"_Believe me, I can tell you things that can be much worse."_

"_...during my transfo...er...transfer from school to home."_

_...picked up the book next to bedside lamp and sat back down on the bed with her back resting on the wall. Becky remembered smiling to herself as she began to read "The Phases of the Moon: For Kids" ..._

"_I know, Remus...I know..."_

Becky gasped, dropping her father's precious possession to the floor.

It all made sense now.


	30. Chapter 30: The Shattering Next Door

**A/N: The flashback in in the middle of the 'current time' again. Thanks to everyone for reviewing! Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than normal, but I hope that Remus' decision at the end of the chapter will make up for it.**

* * *

**Chapter 30**

* * *

***Current Time***

Becky gasped, dropping her father's precious possession to the floor.

It all made sense now.

Becky stood frozen. She couldn't believe what she had just read. The memories of conversations kept rushing to mind as she read the passage in her father's medical book once more.

'_If the victim of a werewolf bite survives, he will be forever be cursed and must unwillingly transform into a wolf when the moon reaches its peak fullness. Moods may change up to and after the time of the full moon. Physiological changes may also occur causing the affected person to become more sensitive to the environment._

_Symptoms of a pre-full-moon-transformation include, but are not limited to:_

_Body Aches, Skin Irritation, Irritable mood, altered state of consciousness, tiredness/fatigue, rash/uncharacteristic decisions, abnormal pupil dilation, hypersensitivity to touch, and heightened smell, taste, sight, and hearing..._

As soon as Becky read the passage again she discovered she couldn't breathe. Her heart was brashly convulsing as her breathing became more erratic.

Remus was a werewolf. Everything was falling into place. His disappearances, this sickness, why he always looked so tired before going over to James' house, why Remus would pull away from her touch as if it caused him pain. Remus had been lying to her for years about this, but for how long?

Becky thought back. She remembered Remus having these bouts of 'sickness' for as long as she could remember. She had met Remus shortly after her father had died when she was three years old. Becky and her mum had been at the cemetery for her father's funeral the same day Jane and Remus had been at Remus' father's funeral...

'_It was your son?'_

'_Yes, I just wanted to thank you. Your husband was a great man for what he did. I owe him my son's life...my life.'_

_Becky watched as her mother burst into a new fit of tears. The woman before her engulfed her mother in a hug as she too cried._

_Becky felt a cold hand tug on her wrist causing her to look away from her mother and the other woman sharing a moment. When Becky, turned she saw a young boy in a chair with wheels. He looked sickly with the bloodshot eyes, large dark purple bags under his eyes, and medical gauze covering one side of his face and neck._

"_Did you lose your daddy too," the young boy asked quietly. His honey-brown eyes looked at Becky with sympathetic curiosity._

"_Mmm-hmm," Becky answered as best as she could._

"_I'm here for my daddy. He died too," the boy replied with a hitch in his breath._

"_H-how did your daddy die," Becky whispered trying her best to hold back the tears that were stinging her eyes._

"_He died trying to save my life. What about yours?"_

"_He was killed by a wolf..."_

_Little Becky couldn't hold the tears back any longer. As soon as she uttered the word 'wolf' the painful tears began flowing down her cheeks once more, following the tracks of the previous tears had made._

_The young sickly boy let out a shaky gasp when he realized who this girl's father was and that it was her father along with his who died trying to save his life from the werewolf attack. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."_

She could feel the blood draining out of her face and away from her hands as a clammy feeling touched her. Her father wasn't killed by just any type of wolf. Laurent Fourneir was killed by werewolves, to be exact. The same werewolves that most likely bit a four year old Remus.

Her eyes began to blur and grey, floating circles drifted into her sight. Soon her heart beat was the only thing she could hear. However, the beat of her heart began to fade, changing into a garbled sound as if she was underwater.

The room felt as though it was beginning to tilt as this dark haze continued to cloud her vision. She felt as though vertigo had taken over and she was having a difficult time trying to find her balance.

Becky sluggishly moved her feet out of the room, taking extra care to follow the walls of the house to the kitchen. The journey was difficult due to her blackened vision and jelly like lower extremities.

It seemed a miracle that she was able to make it to the cupboards in the kitchen to retrieve a glass. She filled the glass up with water from the tap. She could hardly feel the water spilling over her shaking, clammy hands. She raised the glass to her lips, not even sure if her arm was even moving.

It became too much, her legs suddenly gave away as if the ground was pulling her with great force.

**_OoOoO_**

"Too bad Becky wasn't feeling well," Jane said setting the pies on the table that Nancy and Jason had brought. "I was really looking forward to having the entire family together."

"It's not like we don't have meals together on a regular basis, Jane," Nancy laughed stealing a bite of pie off of Jason's plate before she reached for a full slice herself. "You know how girls can be when they aren't feeling well."

"I hardly doubt it has anything to do with an illness only women get," Jane replied turning to her son and giving him a small glare, which made Remus squirm uneasily in his seat.

Jason noticed the look between mother and son. "Am I missing something here?"

"Nothing that concerns you," Nancy said patting Jason on the head. "This is between the children."

There was a loud 'crash' followed by the sound of something shattering. All four of the people sitting around the Lupin's dining room table nearly jumped out of their seats.

"What was that," Nancy asked the table of people.

"It sounded like it came from next door."

Becky slowly came back into consciousness. However her head was still

The sting of the tears no longer symbolized her missing her father. Now they symbolized the anger and rage she felt from being blind to the truth for the majority of her life.

She was curled up on her mother's bed crying so intensely that her body was shaking uncontrollably. How could he do this to her? How could he not tell her? Did she not deserve to know the truth about her best friend's regular disappearances? How could Remus not trust her? She always thought it had to do with his friends always getting him into trouble, but it was the other way around.

"Becky," came a soft call from the door. "Bec, sweetheart, please tell me what's wrong."

Nancy didn't hear anything for a few moments until there was a shaking sucking in of a breath. She knew Becky was upset because Becky usually sought sanctuary Nancy's bedroom.

"I..I thought h…he trus…trusted meeee," Becky sobbed into her mother's pillow. The cold wet feeling on her cheeks did not bother her as she continued to cry.

"Il m'a menti! Comment a-t-il pu me mentir? Je pensais qu'il pouvait me faire confiance!"

Now, fully concerned about her daughter, Nancy curled up beside the distraught girl, stroking her daughter's hair. "What happened? Maybe you should talk this over with Remus if he is the one bringing this on."

"I can't," Becky said soberly. "I never want to see him again."

"Becca, this is Remus we're talking about. You have fought before," Beckys mum said softly. "I am sure you can work through it. The two of you always do. Just talk to him in a couple of minutes once you've cooled off. He's downstairs right now. You should have seen him when we found you unconscious. He was practically beside himself.

"No," Becky yelled startling her mother. "I…I can't go. He lied!"

"I'm sure that whatever he lied about, you can talk it out. You can't just stay up here ignoring him, Becca. Whatever he has done just let him apologize. He's sick with worry."

"He's sick alright," Becky said slowly.

Finally Nancy realized what Becky was talking about. "Oh, honey, you found out," she said embracing her daughter tighter,

"You knew," Becky choked.

"Yes," Becky's mother replied. "Jane told me. It wasn't long before that it had happened."

"So you've all been keeping this from me," Becky gasped for air as a new wave of tears sprung to her eyes. "Didn't any of you think I had a right to know my best friend turns into a werewolf at least once a month?"

"Honey, your father and I brought you up not to discriminate against people who are different, this includes werewolves."

"Who said anything about discrimination? I'm not discriminating! I just found out that the people I consider to be family kept secrets and lied to me for the best part of 12 years. As well the real type of wolf my father died from."

Nancy recoiled at the harsh sounds of her daughter's voice. "I know it was wrong of us, sweetheart, but it wasn't my secret to tell."

"He should have told me. How can I ever trust him again?"

"It will take time. You will come to realized soon enough that his friendship means more to you than a moonlight rendezvous once a month. He didn't tell you because he didn't want to lose your friendship. He loves you too much for that, Becky."

"He should have told me."

"I agree. He should have told you."

"Did he tell his friends at school?" When Nancy didn't answer her, Becky asked again. "Mum, do his friends from school know about him?"

"Yes. That's why he goes over to his friend James' house. They have better facilities to...how do I say this...to contain his wolfish-ness."

"Il leur a dit. Ils le savent. Ils le savent." Another sob burst forth from Becky's lips as her mother mentioned Remus' 'wolfish-ness.' Her knuckles were turning white from gripping her mother's bed sheets so tightly.

Nancy stayed with Becky until she had cried herself to sleep all the while muttering comforting words into her daughter's ear.

As soon as Nancy was sure Becky was sound asleep, Nancy quietly slipped away from her bedroom and walked down the stairs. Before pushing the kitchen door open, Nancy took a deep breath.

Remus looked up from his seat at the kitchen table as soon as Nancy had entered. He rushed over to his best friend's mum. "Is she okay?"

"No," Nancy sighed. "She fell asleep, but not before muttering in French."

"She resorted to French," Remus groaned. He began pacing the kitchen. "What was she saying?"

"I think she was saying that you lied to her," Nancy said. "I've never seen her this upset, Remus. I don't want to see her like this. I don't know what to do for her."

"I need to go see her. I need to explain," Remus said rushing toward the door.

"No, Remus," Nancy nearly shouted. "She doesn't want to see you right now."

"I'm sure if I just..."

"No," Nancy said reaching out her hand and placing it on Remus' shoulder while looking him straight in the eyes. "You don't understand. She said she never wanted to speak to you again. You must give her some time to cope with all of this."

Remus let in a shaky breath. He was about to comply with Nancy and leave Becky alone, but something came to mind...

"_Time to think?" Becky rushed over to Remus and harshly grabbed his arm pulling it away from his tie so he would stop fidgeting. "Remus, I am so tired of this cycle we put ourselves through." _

_ Becky waited for a reply, but noting came forth. Remus' fingers were still twitching in nervousness. Becky could tell he wanted to say something, but it was like every other time...he was purposefully not exposing a secret._

_ "No, you know what, if you're not going to actually tell me what it going on than I'm going to leave," Becky stated shaking her head slightly and shrugging her shoulders. "You wanted me to get out. I'm going to leave of my own accord this time."_

There was no way Remus was going to allow this to happen again. He would not allow Becky to walk away again without her knowing the truth. A mistake was made and Remus would try with all his might to make sure he never allowed Becky to walk out upset again.

He would give Becky time to think if that was what she needed. However, he was not going to allow much time because he had to win his girlfriend back.

* * *

**A/N: The first time Becky was speaking French she was saying..."He lied to me! How could he have lied? I thought he would have trusted me!"**

**The second time she was speaking in French she was saying..."He told them. They know. They know."**


	31. Chapter 31: Throwing Stones

**Chapter 31**

* * *

***Remus age 8, Becky age 7***

"A white rose means purity, a red rose means passion/romance, a yellow rose means friendship, an orange rose means vibrancy and life, a blue rose means uniqueness."

"Why are you telling us this," Remus whined as he followed his mother and Becky around the gardens near Oxford.

"Don't scoff at the meaning of floral colours, especially the meaning behind roses, Remus. You never know when you might need to know what the colour of each rose means," Jane said turning to look at her pouting son. "Even the number of roses you give to a person can mean something. One rose usually means 'love at first sight,' three roses might mean 'I love you,' eleven roses are used to express to someone they are the most important person in their life, fifteen roses are a symbol of asking for forgiveness of a loved one, forty roses mean 'genuine love,' ninety-nine roses symbolize a love lasting forever. This numbers continue up. For each higher number of roses given it is a deeper showing of one's love and friendship."

Jane could help but chuckle at the miserable face her son was trying to convey on his face. She looked over at Becky who was acting the opposite. She had a giant grin as she was happily smelling all of the flowers within her tiny reach.

"What do these mean," Becky asked straightening up smelling a particular bunch of roses. She turned to Jane and pointed at a bush of yellow roses with red tips.

"Ah, the two-toned roses have very special meanings indeed. They are a blend of two meanings. So the yellow with red tips means a friendship that has blossomed into a romantic relationship."

Jane looks at the two children who look at each other before saying, 'ewwww' at the same time. Then they burst into fits of childish giggles.

* * *

***Current Time: About a day after Becky finds out***

Remus stood outside the backdoor of Becky's house. He made sure he was wearing black and only crept through the shadows as to not be caught be Becky or her mother. The only way he would be able to see Becky was when she was sleeping. He knew it sounded crazy to be sneaking into Becky's room at night and Nancy probably wouldn't be happy to find out either, but Remus couldn't help it. Becky was locking herself in her house refusing to venture out in case she had to see Remus.

The first attempt at seeing Becky after her discovery of his monstrous secret did not go as planned. In fact it went worse than Remus even thought was possible.

"_Remus, I really think you should stay away from the house for a while. Give Becky some time to process all of this," Nancy said as she sat down at the kitchen table next to Remus and placing a cup of tea in front of him._

"_I can't just leave her to deal with this on her own," Remus sighed taking a sip of his tea. "It's my fault she has to go through this. The least I could do is be there for her and explain everything in person."_

"_Honey, you know her better than anyone. She is not going to forgive you that easily even if you do apologize and explain," Nancy said._

"_I am not going to leave here until I have apologized."_

"_Don't make me get your mother over hear and forcibly make you leave," Nancy said raising an eyebrow. _

"_I'm sorry, Nancy, but I have to see her. I have to make things right by her again. It's been too long since we had a civil conversation with each other and I'm afraid if I don't do something now than I could ruin things."_

_Remus got up from the table and began to walk out of the kitchen. He ignored the calls for him to stop and leave Becky alone._

_Once Remus got to Becky's bedroom he stopped to look at the yellow door. There was something different about it. Then Remus remembered there used to be a drawing of the two of them on her door. Two pieces of paper were on the floor; they were the pieces of the drawing from the door. He groaned thinking about how much he had ruined things by keeping secrets._

_Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door and stepped inside the dark room. He began to walk over the bed, but tripped over a piece of clothing on the floor. Picking up the clothing from the floor, Remus noticed it was the jumper Becky had taken from his closest a while back. There was a tear at the seam between the shoulder and sleeve._

"_Damn it, Becky. I know you're irritated at me, but don't take it out on my clothing," Remus muttered, tossing the clothing back to the floor. He scanned the dark room for signs of life and was surprised when he didn't find anyone._

"_If I were an angry Becky where would I hide after my best friend lied to me for years," Remus continued to talk to himself. "Of course, her mother's bedroom."_

_Remus walked out of Becky's bedroom and down the hall to where Nancy slept. He pressed his ear to the door and listened. Breathing, could be heard inside the room so Remus slowly opened the door and peeked inside._

_An object suddenly crashed against the door causing Remus to nearly shut the door on his neck. With wide eyes he looked up and saw Becky kneeling on the bed with her arm outstretched and a vicious look in her eyes._

"_What the hell is wrong with you," Remus asked, but quickly back tracked his words seeing Becky's glare deepen. "Right, I know what is wrong. I'm the cause, but how did you know I wasn't your mother coming in to use her bedroom."_

"_Because my mother has the good sense of leaving me alone in the middle of the day."_

Remus shuttered at the memory. He was lucky Becky hadn't actually hit him with the lamp when he opened the door. Nancy had heard the crash and wasn't terrible happy with either him or Becky seeing the shattered lamp on the ground. Nancy had kindly asked Remus to leave, but the gritting of her teeth did not go unnoticed. Nancy didn't even seem to appreciate Remus repairing the lamp with a quick flick of his wand.

The second attempt Remus had made this morning to talk to Becky went just as badly as the first. Perhaps, it went worse than the first attempt because Remus got himself banned from even setting foot in the James-Fournier yard.

"_Okay, so that didn't go as planned," Remus muttered under his breath as he sat on his own bedroom windowsill. _

_He was looking out at Becky's house. Her bedroom window was straight across from his and Remus could see that she had moved back into her room after the lamp debacle. However, the blinds were closed so Remus couldn't actually see Becky, but he knew she was there based off of her silhouette behind the closed shades._

_Remus watched Becky's house for what felt like hours. All he could think about was trying to figure out a way to get her to talk to him, but exactly how to get her to talk to him was the mystery._

_As he was watching the house, he saw Nancy's boyfriend pull up to the house in his sleek sliver automobile. After a few minutes, Nancy and Jason had emerged from the house and drove off._

_Once the automobile had turned the corner, Remus left his room and snuck out the backdoor so his mother wouldn't hear him leaving and try to stop him._

_Remus quickly ran thought the gate separating the two houses in the back. He ran under Becky's window and looked up at the closed frame. There had to be something Remus could do to get her attention, but there were no vines or rain pipe he could climb up._

_Remus kicked his foot out in frustration. There was a small 'clink' sound against the side of the house as a small stone had bounced off the wall. He stared at the now still stone a short distance away from him._

_Bending down, Remus picked up a few other stones and began dropping them from hand to hand. He looked up at the window and studied the distance from where he stood as well as the amount of strength he would have to exert in order to launch the stone just hard enough to hit the Becky's bedroom pane._

_He threw one pebble up, but it missed the window by about a metre. _

'_James would be ashamed if he saw a throw like that,' Remus huffed before recalculating the angle we would have to throw at for his next attempt._

_Another stone was tossed. This time Remus had put too much power into it and the stone had gone flying over the roof of the house. _

'_Really, really, ashamed,' Remus muttered and threw the next rock up without paying too much attention._

_It hit._

_Nothing happened. Remus threw another stone and another and another. Each one actually hitting the target of the window._

_One the fourth hit, the shades of the window flew open. Remus quickly flattened himself against the house. 'What am I doing,' Remus breathed. 'I want her to see me.'_

_He stepped away from the side of the house and threw the last two stones. Becky's window was quickly pushed open, but before Remus could say anything a copious amount of water was descending upon his head._

_Becky glared down at the now drenched Remus. She slammed the window shut before Remus recovered from his shock._

_Remus quickly dried himself off with a spell. He levitated a larger rock up to the window and insistently made it collide with the glass. Soon the pane couldn't take much more of the rock collisions and the glass shattered._

_There was a shriek from inside, but it was nothing compared to the scream of frustration from the corner of the house._

_Remus' concentration was lost and the rock came plummeting to the ground along with the rain of glass shards._

"_Remus John Lupin, you are here by banned from banned from my house without my permission." Nancy's eyes were blazing. She looked like an entirely different person from the normally joking woman Remus had grew up to next door._

"_I am so sorry," Remus muttered. He waved his wand at the broken window in order to repair it. Remus quickly ran off to his house, but not before sending Nancy a smile he hoped was apologetic._

The broken lamp and broken window were the reason's Remus probably shouldn't even be on the neighbouring property, but he had made a promise to himself to get Becky to talk to him. If this last attempt to get somewhat into her good graces didn't work, then he would have to ask his friends for help. And his friends didn't always make matters better.

Remus unlocked the door with his wand and cast a silencing charm on his shoes so he wouldn't make any noise as he travelled through the house.

He came to the yellow door, still naked without the drawing of the two of them, and gently pushed the door open. Like the last time he was in Becky's room, it was dark. However this time, Remus could hear Becky's steady breathing as she slept. He walked over to her bed and watched her for a few moments. He had caused her so much pain, but he was happy to see how peaceful she looked was she slept. No sign of nightmares, which was good.

Remus pulled fifteen buttons out of his pocket. He had clipped the buttons off of a few of his shirts. If his mum were to find out she would have a fit, but at least she would be able to commiserate with Nancy about how delinquent Remus was becoming.

Remus spread the buttons on the bedspread near Becky's knees. He pulled out his wand once more and transfigured the buttons into fifteen roses. All of the roses were red except for one, which was yellow with red tips; the symbol of his and Becky's relationship.

Bundling up the roses, Remus places the bundle of roses on the empty space beside Becky's head. As a finishing touch, Remus pulled a note out of his pocket and laid it with the flowers reading: 'You don't have to forgive me. Just give me a chance to try. The 15 roses say what I know you don't want to hear from me. ~R'

* * *

**A/N: I have decided to dedicate this chapter to WednesdayMorn because great minds think alike and it's scary how often it happens.**

**Thanks once again to everyone who as reviewed! The reviews help give me ideas for how I should get Remus and Becky back together so thanks again!**

**Also, if anyone is interesting in knowing...I was inspired by a song before I wrote this chapter. The song is 'Out on the Town' by FUN.**


	32. Chapter 32: Trapped A Veil of Questions

**Chapter 32**

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***Remus Age 14, Becky Age 13***

"How'd you get here," Remus asked.

"Er, magic?"

"You can't use that," Remus laughed. "That is my excuse."

"Yeah, well, living in a muggle community having magic in ones household is strange and unusual."

"I grew up in a muggle neighbourhood and I had magic."

"Not all of us have mother's who are witches."

"But you grew up next to me so by proxy you did grow up in a muggle neighbourhood with magic. And you practically live in my house so therefore you did have magic in your household."

"I will not be defeated by a technicality."

"Well, that flower vase did shatter that one time when we were about six or seven at your house when you got mad that I wouldn't let you ride on my toy broom."

"No, that was all you. You're the one that got mad because I started sweeping the floor with your broom. I didn't know about magic then."

"What are you doing here, Becky? I thought you weren't talking to me...not that I blame you any."

"We fight a lot," Becky bit her bottom lip before fully looking Remus in the eyes. "And I decided to pick my battles. You are my best friend, Remus. No matter how irritated we are at each other we always come back."

Remus smiled. He stepped forward and embraced Becky in tight hug. She in return clung to his person as if he was going to disappear.

"I remember my father telling me once that 'without the breaking of a heart there would be no forgiveness. Without forgiveness than the heart will never become stronger.' I always thought it was odd for my father to say such a thing because he was a Healer and he knew the heart is naturally one of the strongest muscles in the body."

Becky couldn't help but laugh quietly in Remus' ear. "If that is the case then I forgive you for pushing me out of a tree and not only breaking my heart, but also my arm."

"So you actually forgive me," Remus asked pulling away from Becky's embrace so he could look her in the eyes.

"I will always forgive you."

* * *

***Curren time: Remus' house***

"...and then we use the spoons to dig a tunnel from the basement to her house and then dig right into her room. The she will have to talk to you because you will have access to her room with worry of a locked door," Sirius finished his plan and stood smiling broadly at his friends.

Remus turned to James with a very confused expression on his face. "Tell me again why I decided to invite you guys over?"

"You wanted us to help you with your lady problem," James replied with a shrug. "Don't worry, mate. I'm sure one of Sirius' ideas will actually be plausible one of these times."

"Oi! I am standing right here," Sirius exclaimed, stepping over Pete's outstretched legs, and walking over to where James and Remus were sitting on Remus' bed. "I can't hear you talking about my plans as if they were rubbish."

"They are rubbish," Peter muttered, earning a sharp kick to the shoulder from Sirius' heel. "I mean, great plan, Sirius!"

"Shut up, Wormtail," Sirius snapped with a pouting lower lip protruding from his face.

"Uh oh," James said. "Sirius means business, Pete. He's using the nickname."

"You shut up also, Prongs."

"Oh, two out of four nicknames," James laughed at his friend's expense. "You better watch out, Remus, or Sirius might use your nickname against you."

"That's it, deer boy, let's go," Sirius launched himself at James and tackled the still laughing teen with wire rimmed speckles.

Becoming increasingly fed up with the antics of his friends Remus walked up to his two friends having some kind of brawl on the floor. He bent down and grabbed each of them by an ear. "Now, I know it is clique to stop a fight with the grabbing of one's ear, but the two of you have left me no choice. My originality for such aspects has been refocused, as should your attention. I have asked you to come here to help me get Becky to talk to me, not for you to fight like children over the good toy broomstick," Remus rambled.

Both Sirius and James muttered a 'sorry, mate' as soon as Remus release his hold on their ears.

"Now, we need to come up with a good idea," Remus said pointedly to Sirius, "for me to get in and talk to Becky. This not talking thing has gone on way too long and I intend on breaking Becky's silence before we go back to Hogwarts."

The four friends looked at each other before Peter spoke.

"One of us could talk to her," Peter said pointing to himself and James. "She might let one of us in. I mean, she does know us."

"But she knows that you were all keeping my secrect from her. Her mum told me, the night she found out, she was muttering in French that I told you and not her," Remus argued. "It's best if I'm the one that goes in to talk to her."

"Hang on," Sirius said. "Why can't I go in and talk to her? Why does it have to be Peter or James? It's not like she has met any of us because Remus here didn't want to share."

Sirius noticed none of his friends looking him in the eye as he talked. He could tell by the guilty expressions they were trying to hide on their faces that they were hiding some piece of information from him as well. "You've met her before, haven't you?"

"Well, yes," Peter said slowly. "But technically so have you."

Sirius scoffed. "No I haven't. I think I would know if I met Remus' best girl mate. If I had met her than why didn't she tell me who she was? I was writing those letters to her after all."

"It doesn't matter," Remus decided trying to focus his friends back to the task at hand. He had invited them over to his house for them to assist him in winning Becky back not getting side tracked regarding who knows whom. "I'm running out of ideas to win her back."

"Why don't you try giving her your rock collection," James suggested pulling a box out from underneath Remus bed and dumping the contents on the floor.

"It's a semi precious stone collection and they are for magic purposes."

"They just look like a heap of rocks to me."

"If you would use your eyes, you would see these are crystals, agates, gems—"

"As fascinating as this all is, I didn't leave the comforts of James' house for you to bore us to death on the difference between different stone formations," Sirius interrupted. "Now, how about this idea...we all dress in black, we secure a set of strong cables connecting Remus' bedroom window to Becky's...then we use the cables to crawl upside-down, undetected, to Becky's window...then we open up her window—"

The other three groaned at the next of Sirius non-realistic plots.

The whole time the four boys were scheming, none of them realized there was a girl with her ear pressed against the door holding a box while listening in on their conversations.

Becky was tempted to burst in the room and demand that they leave her alone, but she knew as soon as she did Remus wouldn't give up trying to apologize.

She wanted to be prepared with what Remus had planned next in his so far not completely unsuccessful attempts to get her to talk to him again. Becky had meant to completely freeze him out, but when she woke up to the roses on her pillow she could feel the power of the sentiment behind them.

Judging by the way the arguing was going inside the room, it didn't sound like the boys were going to be bothering her anytime soon.

With a partially sigh she set the box down on the ground. The inside the box was filled with what appeared to be red and green mulch. In actuality, it was fourteen red roses torn to shreds.

Becky didn't care that the fifteen original roses Remus gave her symbolized his deepest and more sincere apologies. At first she was surprised to see roses in the middle of winter. Then Becky read the card and realized where the flowers had come from. She was still hurt and no romantic plants were going make her forgive him.

Before Becky could bring herself to leave, she heard the boys begin to shout and items being thrown in a general direction of the door. The handle to the door began to rattle, leaving Becky little time to rush to the stairs to make her escape from the house. Instead, she darted for the next closest room.

There was a shout followed by a crash.

"Damn it, Remus! Take your bloody boxes and keep them in your room."

"I didn't leave a box out here."

"Well, I sure as hell didn't decide to place a box in front of my feet."

"Maybe Remus' mum left it for him before she left."

Becky could hear the boys perfectly from her position behind the bathroom door. Becky thought she was safe, but as soon as she heard someone muttering about needing to use the toilet she began to panic again. She pushed herself further against the wall, behind the door, and prayed to Merlin that whoever was 'needing' to use the toilet would suddenly decide nature was not calling and turn back to Remus' room. However, Becky was not so lucky and she soon recognized a head of dark, raven hair.

Sirius didn't notice anyone sharing the room with him. In his oblivious state he kicked the door closed with the heel of his foot. Becky managed to hold in a gasp of surprise. However, when Sirius began to unzip his trousers, Becky finally made a sound of protest.

"Stop!"

Sirius stumbled backwards in his moment of surprise. He lost his footing and tried to grab onto the curtain in front of the bath to help him maintain his balance. Instead, the curtain began to rip sending Sirius flailing into the tub.

"Bloody hell," Sirius exclaimed with a muffled shout from his prison of fabric and porcine.

"Sorry," Becky apologized as she attempted to free the marauder from the situation she caused. Her face blazing red with embarrassment from the current predicament. "Sirius, I am so so so so sorry. I was just trying to save both of us an extremely awkward moment."

James came hustling through the door to see what was causing all of the commotion.

"What is going on in here?" The ending to James' question tapered off when he caught sight of Becky standing next to a pair of legs emerging from the tub. "Becky?"

Sirius was still trying to untangle himself so he did not hear anything of what was happening beyond the veil which trapped him.

"He fell over and took the curtain with him," Becky explained to James.

James rushed over to the tub to help free his friend. However the task was not easy. Sirius was able to free himself from the curtain after wildly waving his arms and legs about, not without kicking the two bystanders attempting to help. Finally, Sirius stood from the tub and brushed himself off as nothing had happened.

"Are you okay," Becky asked stepping tentatively backwards as if she was trying to avoid spooking Sirius again.

"I'm fine," Sirius replied. When he looked up, it finally registered who was talking to him. His eyes went wide. "Rebecca? What are you doing here?"

"Er, magic?"

Sirius just stared. He looked to James, then back to Becky.

"Fine, I came to deliver something to Remus. Then I heard all of you arguing so I ran in here to hide. I didn't expect you to come traipsing into the loo discovering my not-so-stealthy-hideaway."

"Huh? Why did you come to deliver something to Remus?"

Becky drew in a deep breath. "Well, Remus keeps trying to get me to talk to him. He snuck into my room the other night and left some roses on my pillow while I was sleeping. I decided I had no use for the flowers, or his apology, so I returned the flowers. Hence why I am here."

"But he didn't send the flowers to you," Sirius gave Becky a confused look. "He gave the neighbour girl some flowers because he..."

"...neglected to tell her, his best friend since childhood, that he was a werewolf." The Becky rambled more to herself than to Sirius, "Which, incidentally, is the reason why we became friends in the first place; a commonality of both of us having our fathers taken from us by a werewolf."

"How do you know all of that? Hang on, 'we'...as in you and Remus?"

"Sirius Black," James said with a sheepish smile, while holding out Becky's hand in greeting towards Sirius. "I would like to introduce you Remus' next door neighbour, Rebecca Fourneir. We have heard her name most frequently as Becky."

"You're Becky? You're Becky," Sirius nearly stumbled backwards again in shock, but Becky caught him by the shirt before his momentum forced him into the tub again. "You're _the_ Becky?"

"You can say my name as many times as you would like," Becky said straightening out the wrinkles she had made in Sirius shirt from grabbing him, "but it will still be just as true."

"But you've been at Hogwarts this whole time," Sirius said with a smile slowly creeping upon his face. "And you are afraid of wolves."

"Yes because me going to Hogwarts and my fear of wolves are connected."

"Well, if you think about it Remus goes to Hogwart and is a wolf of sorts."

"Leave Remus out of this."

"It's kind of difficult to leave Remus out of this when we are standing in his house," James interrupted leaning back against the sink. He found the current situation extremely amusing.

Becky groaned. "You are just as annoying outside the castle walls as you are inside of them."

"What can I say, the ladies love my personality," James said leaning forward to get closer to Becky.

"Why do you enjoy making me feel uncomfortable with your close proximities," Becky asked trying to swat James away as if he were a fly buzzing around her head.

"Why does James know about you? Why didn't you tell _me_ you were at Hogwarts? Remus said you knew I was the one writing the letters, not him," Sirius questioned as he began to pace the small room. He couldn't move very far and ever couple of steps he was brush against either Becky or James.

"Being a marauder, you should know the thrill of a prank," Becky laughed.

Sirius stopped pacing to look at Becky with wide eyes. Becky continued to laugh at the expression on Sirius' face when he heard her was bested by someone who was not a true marauder.

The expression on Sirius' face changed when he had a though suddenly occur in his mind. "Is that what all of this is about? Are you merely playing a prank on Remus by not taking to him? He's going mad with worry you know."

Becky let in a breath. The words Sirius spoke affected her deeply. The mood of the conversation changed quickly. "This is no pranking matter. I love Remus, but I can't bring myself to forgive him just yet for the secrets he has kept from me."

Becky turned to leave, but Sirius caught her arm before she could leave. He was going to say something, however, Becky beat him to it. "Why is it I always tell you my deepest secrets. The secrets I have not even told Remus?"

"We all have to tell someone, I guess, and I am just ruggedly handsome enough for you to share your secrets enough," Sirius replied providing Becky with a giant grin.

James gave a snort while Becky laughed again, but this time her laughter caught on the tears she didn't know were falling.

"Listen, I know I am not always the most serious person," Sirius paused wiping a couple of stray tears away from Becky's face. "Don't you dare make a joke about that 'serious' comment. But I know Remus won't give up until you forgive him."

"Good, because I don't want him to give up. I will forgive him, I always do. Just not right now," Becky gave Sirius a watery smile before she slipped out of the bathroom to return home.

Sirius and James stood for a couple of minutes thinking about what just happened.

Suddenly James spoke, "Please don't tell me she was in here while you were on the toilet."

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! I appologize for the late update. My motivation seemed to disappear this last week which pushed my update back a week.**

**This is not exactly how I wanted Sirius to find out about Becky. I orinially had it planned for the next chapter, but as I was writing the tub scene seemed too perfect of an awkward meeting to pass up (if that makes any sense).**

**Thank you all of your patience in my lateness. And thank you to all of my readers, reviewers, favourites, and followers! I appreciate you continous support!**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	33. Chapter 33: Temporary Truce

**Chapter 33**

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***Current Time: Remus' House***

"Wake up, Moony!"

"Moony's asleep right now, please ring back later," Remus muttered from under his sheets. He tried his best to ignore the annoying enthusiasm in his friend's voice.

"Huh," Sirius questioned, looking to a recently awoken James for help.

James shrugged.

It was Peter who answered with a yawn. "He means the telephone, Sirius. You know that muggle contraption that allows people to talk to one another almost instantly. The device they use makes a ringing sound."

"Oh," Sirius whined at being corrected by Peter. "I knew that."

"Sure you did, Pads," James replied throwing his sheets aside and standing up to stretch his sleeping muscles.

"Shut up," Remus muttered from underneath the pillow he had pressed against his head to drown out the noise of talking. "Why can't you let me sleep?"

"But it's Christmas morning," Sirius exclaimed. "The sky is snowing, the fire's going, the presents are in need of some opening!"

"Fantastic," Remus grumbled. His voice still muffled by the pillow. "You go enjoy all of that and I'll stay here...sleeping."

"But it's Christmas," Sirius whined again.

"And it was the full moon last night," Remus seethed, ripping the pillow away from his body and launching it at Sirius. "Let me sleep."

"Not until you open some presents."

"You're impossible."

"Sirius, mate, perhaps we should let the sleeping wolf lay," James reasoned. "He did have a long night."

"We did too," Sirius said, but was cut off by a ferocious growl from Remus. "Or perhaps we should let Remus rest."

Remus slammed his head back down on the bed, not caring that he no longer had a pillow to support his head. The other three marauders began to open up the few gifts they had brought for each other.

The gift opening was going peaceful until Peter opened his gift from Sirius. Peter immediately regretted his decision when Sirius' loud and off key voice bellowed a round of 'All ye Merry Witches' from the card attached. Peter tried to slam the card shut, but he couldn't seem to find the strength to close the card. There was some kind of magical force holding the card open.

Sirius was no help on the matter as his bark like laugh filled the room as he explained the card would not shut until the song was finished.

A loud growl came from Remus direction once again. Next thing the three opening presents hear is Sirius' singing voice becoming deeper and deeper. They looked at the card to see it was in flames and Remus was angrily pointing his wand at the offending paper.

There was a knock on the bedroom door and Jane's voice rang out from behind. "Boys! I smell smoke. Please don't tell me you set Sirius on fire again for singing!"

"No, mum," Remus shouted at the door. "No one has been set on fire."

"Glad to hear it, dear." Remus could hear his mother laughing. "Breakfast will be ready in a few."

"Thanks, mum," Remus called. He then turned to his friends. "Well, since I am up, I might as well open a gift."

Remus was about to grab the gift closest to him, but Sirius snatched it away, hiding it behind his back.

"I'm thinking you don't want to open my gift just yet," Sirius said sheepishly.

"Good thinking, mate," James clasped his friend on the shoulder.

There was a tap at the window and all the boys looked to see Becus just outside carrying a rather large looking item.

Peter, who was closest to the window, unlatched the hook and tugged the window up. As soon as Becus was safely inside the room, Peter closed the window to keep the cold air from penetrating the room any further.

Becus gave off a shiver as if trying to rid his feather clad body from the cold. He fluttered over to Remus and gave his human friend a soft hoot in greeting.

"Happy Christmas to you as well," Remus smiled as he reached over to his nightstand to retrieve some treats. Remus couldn't help but let out a groan as his muscles protested the movement.

Becus nuzzled Remus' face a little, communicating his support and well wishes for Remus.

Remus took the package from his owl, gave Becus a small handful of treats, and began to open the gift. He gasped as soon as he had opened the package. It wasn't a book as he had originally thought based on the weight and size. Instead he held a framed painting of him and father. His father looked just as he remembered, but in the picture Remus looked his current age. Even though his father had died many years ago, the painting looked like the duo had sat to be painted yesterday. Both people in the picture smiled and waved, just like a wizard photograph, as if they had just shared a private joke.

Remus had never seen something so amazing in his life. Even though, he didn't initially pay attention to who sent the gift he immediately knew it was Becky.

He knew Becky had talent, but he never expected her to have gotten this good. Sure he had seen some of her sketches and he knew she was working on a surprise for him over the summer, but he would have never fathomed something this magnitude.

Running his hands over the frame, Remus noticed something taped to the back. It was an envelope. He ripped it open without hesitation. Two photos fell to the floor as Remus unfolded the letter.

_Rem,_

_I know you don't have much to remember you dad by, so I thought that I would create something. It's not the same as an actual memory, but I figured this would be pretty close._

_I think your dad would be proud of the person you have become just like I know our mums' are, just like I am. My life would not be the same without you, Rem. _

_Please keep smiling and I'll do the same._

_Always,_

_Becky_

_P.S. I never noticed before painting this, but you shared your dad's smile; Funny how the smiles aren't the only similarities between the photos. I thought it was quite amusing! ~B_

A second note was attached to the first.

_Remus,_

_I heard Sirius' singing so I figured you were up, whether it was of your volition or not. I had this painted and wrapped before we left Hogwarts...before the whole...finding out thing. It's still too difficult and I am having trouble processing it all. This gift does not mean I fully forgive you yet, please understand that. Regardless, you still deserve to get a gift on Christmas._

_P.S. I hope you are okay after last night._

After reading the message, Remus picked up the photos from the ground. The first one was a picture of him and Becky taken over the summer. He was standing behind her, with his head resting on top of hers. He was keeping her hands at arm's length so she couldn't hit him to get him to remove his head. Both were laughing. Remus' expression in the photo looked the same as the one in the painting. This must have been her model for the painting. Remus flipped to the second picture. He gasped in shock. It was almost the exact same picture, but this time it wasn't a picture of him and Becky. It was a picture of his father and mum. John Lupin's head rested on his wife's. They both shook with laugher as Remus' dad held his mum's arm away from his head. It was obvious that she was trying to hit him as well. However, in this picture there was two year old Remus clinging happily to his parent's legs.

Remus choked out a sob. He couldn't believe how overwhelmed he felt at this moment. He supposed part of it had to do with the emotions of the full moon, but also the fact that Becky had sent this to him regardless of not speaking to him.

Peter, Sirius, and James looked up in alarm as they heard their best friend's sob. They saw him smiling at the gift he had opening with tear running down his face.

"What it is, mate," Sirius asked. He walked over to Remus and leaned over to get a better look at what caused his friend such emotion.

"Wow, Moony," James gushed. "That's an amazing painting. Did your mum send for it?"

All Remus could do was shake his head.

"Well, then who sent it," James inquired.

Remus didn't answer. Instead he suddenly jumped from his bed. "I'll be right back."

Remus gingerly placed the treasured items on his bed and ran from his bedroom.

"What the hell was that all about," James asked Sirius and Peter as they listened to the thundering footsteps down the stairs. "Why wouldn't he tell us who the painting was from?"

"I think I know," Sirius said with a shrug then a wide grin spread over his face as he looked over the painting. He held up a photo of Remus and a girl for James to see. "This is Becky."

"Becky," the other two said as it dawned on them.

"Well," Sirius started, "at least we know she does exist."

James smacked the back of Sirius head.

Remus had run all the way to Becky's house. He didn't bother knocking on the front door like he knew he should have per Nancy's request. Instead, Remus ran into the house and immediately hurried up the stairs the the room that was directly across from his own bedroom window.

In the far corner of Becky's room, by the window, was an easel. Pinned in the corner of the easel was a yellow rose with red tips; the very rose Remus had given Becky as a peace offering. Remus couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the rose. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't remembered seeing any yellow in the box of rose mulch he found outside his bedroom door a couple of days previously.

"_What's in the box, mate," James asked as he and Sirius entered Remus' bedroom after coming from the direction of the loo. _

_Remus just starred at the contents of the box. He understood he made a mistake, but destroying the flowers he had given her was a little harsh. _

_In a temporary bout of anger, Remus threw the box across the room. Petals came tumbling out of the top. However, the petals never touched the ground. Instead fourteen buttons hit the floor. In his temporary distress, Remus never counted the buttons; he didn't even realize one of the original fifteen was missing._

Crossing the common room, Remus came out of his memories and went over to the easel to see what Becky was working on. The canvas only contained faint outlines of 5 people; three standing and two sitting. He couldn't quite make out the faces yet, but he could tell each person was wearing some kind of formal attire. Remus would have continued to analyze the smooth curves of each stroke of graphite if he hadn't heard movement behind him.

It was Becky. She was curled up in the window seat. A pile of gifts were sitting at the top of her head like a brightly coloured halo. Remus smiled at the image. She must have fallen asleep after she sent Becus with the gift.

Remus quickly became excited again when he saw her and harshly shook her awake.

"Becky," Remus practically yelled in a vain attempt to sit his sleeping friend up. She didn't stir much, but Remus swore she mumbled something about leaving her alone. However, Remus was not to be deterred. He took her hands and pulled her up into the sitting position before he shook her again telling her to wake up.

"Five more minutes, mum, I swear," Becky murmured.

"Do I look or sound like your mum," Remus laughed.

Having heard the loud boisterous laugh Becky knew so well she groggily opened her eyes.

"Remus?"

"Yeah, it's me," Remus smiled happily as his friend finally woke up. "I know you probably don't want to see me right now, but I had to come see you. I opened your gift and—"

But Remus didn't finish his own sentence. Words could not show his gratitude towards his best friend. Instead he engulfed her in a tight hug. Becky returned the hug instinctively.

"So you liked the gift," Becky questioned, sleep still thick in her voice. "I was hoping it would bring you some good memories. Now, go away so I can continue ignoring you and being angry at you."

"Becky, I love it. I mean, it is the greatest thing I have ever received. I am...it is...I can't..." Remus didn't know how to finish the sentence he was still so overwhelmed. Without thinking he pulled out of his embrace with Becky slightly and kissed her unceremoniously on the lips before engulfing her once more in a hug.

Becky's eyes went wide as soon as Remus' lips touched hers. The kiss only lasted a second, but Becky could start to feel cheeks burn in a blush. Sleep was no longer an option. Becky was wide awake now.

"I'm glad you liked it," Becky stammered trying to gain control of her-self. It was great to feel Remus so close to her, again, but she didn't want to give him too much false hope.

Remus suddenly pulled away. A giant smile still played on his face as he grabbed Becky's hands, hauling her into a standing position. "Come on. You're spending the rest of the day with me."

"But mum and Jason..."

"Will both be over later," Remus reassured her.

He began dragging Becky towards the hallway. He didn't even turn around as he pulled out his wand and flicked it in the direction of Becky's gifts making them disappear.

"Remus," Becky tugged against Remus' grasp. "Where are you taking me?"

"Don't talk, it will only wear you out," Remus said as he continued to pull Becky out of her own living room and towards the front door. He suddenly made a sharp turn to his right once they were on the sidewalk and darted toward the house next door without even showing any hesitation in his pace. Becky had no choice to follow. Her hair wildly following her every barefooted step.

Remus only slowed when they were nearing the end of the sidewalk. Of course Becky didn't know Remus was about to stop and her momentum continued to carry her forward was Remus paused before lifting a foot to reach the first step to his house. Before she could stop herself, Becky charged into Remus' back sending them both toppling into the pile of snow on the side of the house. Remus tried to turn to catch himself from falling, but ended up on his back with Becky landing on his chest.

"Ow," Becky groaned. "Sorry, Rem."

"Well, Happy Christmas to me," Remus chuckled causing his chest to vibrate. "I always knew a pretty girl would fall for me."

Becky tried to gain control of herself as she felt her face get hot. In order to distract the blush from reaching her face and she did the first thing she could think of...she stroked Remus' face.

With a nervous yet mischievous glint in her eyes she asked, "Remus you've got something on your cheek?"

"What," Remus asked with a hitch in his throat as he wondered why she was suddenly touching his face.

"Oh, don't worry it's just a bit of arrogance on your face," Becky replied with a crooked smile before pushing herself off of Remus and running up the front steps.

Remus beamed at the playful banter that was happening. It has been too long since he had seen her smile or heard her playful mocking words. He missed every bit of it.

"You get a free pass today, Remus," Becky said breaking Remus out of his musings.

"Thank you," Remus smiled as he hoisted himself up, grabbed Becky's hand once again, and lead her into his house. Even if it was just a temporary truce, he had Becky back for today.

* * *

**A/N: A temporary truce. One more step in the direction of forgiveness. It shouldn't be long now, I promise :-)**

**I will not be updating next week. I will be spending some quality time with my family, who I have not seen for quite a few months. ****I hope seeing Remus and Becky getting along again, even if Becky's says it is only temporary, will make up for me not posting next week.**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	34. Chapter 34: An Engaging Christmas

**Chapter 34**

* * *

***Becky Age 2***

"Now, baby girl," Laurent began as he sat down on the floor with his young daughter sitting between his legs, "what did Santa bring you for Christmas?"

Becky looked up at her father with wide curious eyes. "A die-a-mond wing?"

Laurent burst out laughing at this daughter's answer.

Nancy came out of the kitchen smiling when she hear her husband's boisterous laugh. "And I thought the Christmas spirit only got me so joyful."

"It's not just the Christmas spirit, love," Laurent continued to laugh while affectionately running a hand through Becky's hair. "It appears that our little girl is hoping Santa brought her a diamond ring for Christmas."

"Oh," Nancy exclaimed with a wide grin appearing on her face. "I would have hoped you would have waited a few years before expecting a diamond from anyone."

"No," Becky asked cocking her head to the side.

"Not this Christmas," Laurent explained. "Maybe someday, when you are grown up and you know what it means."

Becky looked up at her father with wide inquisitive eyes once again.

"I think we're confusing her," Nancy laughed before picking her daughter up from under the arms. "Come along, Becky girl. It's time for breakfast."

"Yes," Becky exclaimed.

"And that is what you will hopefully say when someone gives you a diamond ring," Laurent said as he followed his two girls to the dining table.

"Shh," Nancy scolded her husband. "It is much too early to be thinking such things."

"I even have the perfect boy in mind," Laurent continued ignoring his wife's complaints. "He's a little older than her, but I work with his father so we know he has a good background."

Nancy rolled her eyes affectionately at her husband's teasing. "Don't listen, baby girl. We'll just ignore daddy and eat all of his food."

"Yes," Becky exclaimed again.

"See, she'll have no problems saying 'yes' when the time is right," Laurent stated with a smile.

"Oh, hush," Nancy said giving Laurent an affectionate peck on the lips.

* * *

***Current Time***

"Who did you bring us, Moony?"

Becky looked between Remus and the other three boys before smirking and taking a step forward while holding out her hand in greeting. "Hi, I don't think Remus officially introduced me. I'm Becky."

"Yeah, you are," Sirius stated with a slight reddish tinge to his face as he remembered the embarrassing meeting between him and Becky in the bathroom.

"Good to see you again, B," James said pushing Becky's hand aside and going in for a hug, causing Becky to laugh.

"So this is what you actually look like," Peter joked when James let Becky go. "I half expected you to not actually have a normal looking face."

Remus starred at everyone in the room. He thought they would have had different reactions to him keeping Becky's identity from them. The three boys were way too calm for Remus' liking. Then something James said suddenly struck him.

"What do you mean 'good to see you again," Remus questioned looking towards Becky. "I thought...I mean, I never introduced you to Becky."

Becky rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me."

"I know all, mate," James shrugged, a cocky grin sliding onto his face. "I'm Head Boy."

"I've known since she was running around Hogsmead invisible," Peter explained. "I recognized her by her voice at Hogwarts, but you already knew that."

"How is it that I am always the last to know," Sirius asked. "It would have been wonderful for someone to inform me that the girl I was writing was actually attending the same school as us. Would have saved me some embarrassment." Sirius muttered the last part.

"I think you have embarrassed yourself in from of Becky all on your own," James laughed.

Both Becky and Sirius turned bright red at James' taunting.

"Am I missing something," Remus questioned again. He knew that Peter knew who Becky was and it made sense James had figured it out since he had been a large bother since seeing the two of them holding hands. "I have no idea what you are talking about. What embarrassment."

Before Sirius thought about what he was going to say, the words spilled out of his mouth. "We met in the bathroom." The wink that was sent in Becky's direction didn't help either.

In a flash, Sirius' back was on the floor. Remus was standing above him with his wand pointed directly at Sirius' chest, above his heart.

"Don't get you knickers in a twist, Lupin," Becky said throwing one of her gifts Remus had sent over from next door. The present completely missed Remus and went soaring in front of his face effectively snapping him out of what ever post-full moon trance he was in.

"I don't know if this is some sort of werewolf power trip, but I would wait to hear the poor guy out before you try to massacre him," Becky said, standing her ground and glaring at Remus. "Breath, Remus. In through the nose like you are smelling roses, and out through the mouth like you are blowing out birthday candles. Deep breaths."

Remus' wand slowly began to sink as he visibly relaxed at the sound of Becky's soothing commands. He had missed that voice. He would do anything for that voice right now.

"Wow," Peter whispered as he watched the scene in front of him. He had never seen his werewolf friend calm down so fast. However, he didn't have much time to think more on the matter because Jane was calling up the stairs for James and Sirius.

"James," Jane called. "Your mum just 'popped' in to take you and Sirius home."

"Bloody hell," James grumbled under his breath. "We are old enough to make our way back to the house ourselves."

"It's Christmas, James," Becky reasoned.

"That's right," James exclaimed. "Merry and Happy Christmas, everyone!"

Becky rolled her eyes at the boy's antics. She had to admit that she did miss seeing the four boys together especially seeing Remus. The hurt still consumed her, but it was worse trying to stay away from him. The fact that it was Christmas was a good transition into what they were before because they had spent most of their Christmases together with their mums.

However, Becky couldn't help but think that this year was going to be different and it wasn't just fighting with Remus. There was going to be another person at the dinner table this year. It was the first year her mum or Jane had invited someone not blood related in some way.

A gentle shove startled Becky out of her thoughts of her Christmas traditions.

"Knut for your thoughts," Remus whispered more concerned with Becky's silence than James and Sirius beating each other with the books Remus had given them as gifts.

Becky shook her head. "Just changes."

"I've missed you," Remus admitted before he could stop himself. He didn't want to ruin his chances during the momentary truce, but on the other hand he didn't care. "Mum has missed you too."

"That's because I am the daughter she never had or she is just tired of having only you for company," Becky smiled at such an easy set up. It felt good to tease Remus again.

"Oi," Remus laughed ruffling Becky's already dishevelled hair.

"Oi, yourself," Sirius said pulling Remus' hands away from Becky's hair. "Hasn't anyone ever taught you never touch another's hair without permission."

"You're just saying that because you hate it when people mess with your hair," Peter pointed out, however, his ever so keen observations couldn't help but pick up on the look in Sirius' eye.

Peter groaned as he watched Sirius.

"What," Sirius questioned looking away from Becky and towards Peter.

"Nothing. I just don't feel like going home, but I suppose I should," Peter covered his tracks. "It's not like it matters. Mum's probably still at work and dad has probably fallen asleep on the couch with an empty glass of wizarding nog."

"Well, see you both at the New Year's shindig at my parents place," James announced with suitcases and gifts in hand. "Let's be off, gents!"

Mrs. Potter was waiting in the living room by the fire place for her 'two' sons. James bickered with his mother for a few minutes, much to the amusement of Becky, before letting out an exasperated sigh allowing the green flames of the fire engulf his body. Sirius followed closely behind with a smirk, obviously entertained by the bickering as well. Mrs. Potter paused to invite everyone once again to the New Year's party at the Potter Mansion before she too disappeared into the green flames.

Peter tried to stall a couple of minutes before deciding that returning home would be inevitable. He thanked Jane and Remus for allowing him to stay and for the gifts.

Soon it was only Jane, Remus, and Becky left.

"So breakfast," Jane decided. She was glad to see Becky back in the house like old times, but even she could see that things had not been healed quite yet. "Remus! Did you drag this poor girl over in her night clothes?"

"Maybe," Remus blushed. While he was on his mission to bring Becky over to his house he had forgotten to make her take some extra clothing with her.

"Don't worry about it, Jane," Becky said walking over to her second mother and affectionately leaving a kiss on the older woman's cheek. "I'll go home to get dressed and tell mum and Jason breakfast is ready."

"Alright, dear," Jane smiled at her pseudo daughter.

As soon as Becky had left the house, Jane hit her son across the back of the head.

"OW!"

"That's what you get for dragging that girl here in the snow while she was wearing pyjamas and slippers.

Not even fifteen minutes had past when the front door opened to reveal three figures clad if festive garb of various reds and greens.

"Happy Christmas," Nancy exclaimed as soon she had walked in the door. She gathered her best friend in tight hug as if they had not seen each other in years instead of mere hours. Nancy always blamed her overzealous tendencies to be the holiday spirit. However, everyone in the room knew that it was just an excuse; they knew Nancy looked for excuse to show her true excitable nature.

"Everything is all set," Jane said as she pulled away from her friend. "Come, sit!"

"It all smells so wonderful, Jane. Thank you for having me," Jason stated as he sat at the table.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Jane said while she began loading up Remus' plate.

"Mum! You're doing it again," Remus exclaimed as he watched the pile of food on his plate become bigger.

"I'm trying to take care of you," Jane explained leaving the spoon in the egg dish.

"I would think that I would have learned how to serve myself after seventeen years of practice," Remus groaned at his mother's incessant need to feed him.

"One would think that, yes," Becky mumbled behind a bite of eggs stolen from Remus' plate.

"What did I ever do to you," Remus questioned the girl sitting next to him. However, he saw the questioning look she was returning to him. "Right. Never mind that last statement then."

Becky stabbed a sausage and held it up to Remus' face. "You want to make it up to me. Eat the sausage."

Remus starred at the sausage as if it was about to eat him. "I-I can't."

"You want me to forgive you, don't you."

"Y-yes."

"Then the solution is simple. Eat it," Becky smirked waving the sausage just under the reluctant vegetarian's nose.

"Becky," Nancy scolded. "Stop teasing the poor boy."

"But mum..."

"I don't care what he did or did not tell you, it is not right to torment someone with breakfast meats during a family meal," Nancy said with a rare serious look on her face.

All of a sudden, Remus and Becky burst out laughing.

The meal passed without much fuss after the sausage incident. There were small bouts of bickering, but then again it wouldn't be a Lupin-Fournier Christmas without it.

Everyone retired to the living room where a small evergreen tree stood on top of the couch side table. Gifts littered the floor under the tree, under the table, some had even spilled under the couch.

Becky noticed that her gifts that had been upstairs in Remus' room had magically appeared under the tree.

"So, what should we do next," Nancy asked as she threw herself into an overstuffed chair without much grace. Jason easily scooped her up and sat her back down in his lap causing Nancy to giggle like a little girl and Becky to roll her eyes.

"Presents," Remus yelled catching everyone's wide eyed attention. Remus shrugged. "What I can't show my excitement now?"

"Not if it means you are going to go around yelling like a small child," Becky replied still giving her friend a strange look.

"You're just jealous I beat you to it," Remus quipped.

"Can you believe that we actually missed them fighting with each other," Jane said to Nancy and Jason.

The statement led to a glare from each Remus and Becky. She glared back at each of the teenagers.

"I heard someone vote for presents," Jason interrupted the glaring contest. "I second that motion."

The pile of presents was dwindling and the remaining few would be opened after a hiatus of another meal, as per tradition. Another tradition was for Becky to wear each one of her gifts which led her to be wearing two sets of robes, three paint brushes (placed behind her eyes), and a large book about paintings, open on top of her head.

Remus was trying to add a few bows to Becky's 'outfit' while she was trying place bows back on him without disturbing the precariously balanced book/hat.

The book on Becky's head dropped to the ground when Jane leaned in and whispered, "I'm sensing a clique about to happen."

"Huh," Becky asked as Jane pointed to Becky's mother opening a very small box.

Nancy let out a gasp as Jason removed himself from the chair and knelt in front of it.

"Nancy," Jason began. "I never got the chance to ask you this all those years ago. I don't regret all of the time that happened in between, but I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to show you how much I loved you back then and right now. So, I ask you, Nancy James...will you marry me?"

"Yes," Nancy nearly shouted. She tumbled off of the chair and into Jason's arms, passionate kissing him.

Becky quickly covered her eyes. "Ew...mother kissing boyfriend...eyes burning...gross."

"Technically he's her fiancé now," Remus corrected earning himself a quick 'shut up.'

"You do know that because Jason gave you an engagement ring on Christmas Day that if you ever break up you can claim it as a gift," Jane said as soon as Nancy had pulled herself away from her now fiancé.

"Way to put my happiness into perspective," Nancy laughed at her friend and glancing down at her newly adorned finger.

"In all seriousness, I am so happy for you," Jane said engulfing her friend in a tight hug.

As soon as Jane had let go of her friend she summoned flutes of champagne in celebration. She realized her mistake a second too late and looked to see if Jason had noticed anything. However, he appeared to not have been paying attention as he talked excitedly to Remus.

Becky looked on almost sadly. She knew this day was coming, but she had hoped it wouldn't have happened so soon. What would her father have thought about this? She didn't want to keep having this internal battle when it came to the men in her mother's life, but it was natural for her mind to wander in that direction when it had only been her and mother for so long.

"You don't look terrible excited, Becky girl," Nancy said when she walked over to her daughter.

Becky sighed. "I'm sorry mum. I am happy for you.."

"I'm sensing a 'but.'"

"What about dad? I thought he was the love of your life."

Nancy nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see. Listen, sweetheart, he was, Becky. Nothing is ever going to change how I felt and still feel for your father. He made me incredibly happy before he was taken away from us. He gave me the most important thing in my life...you."

"Then why say yes to Jason if you know you will never love him as deeply?"

"He knows and understands my connection to your father. He too lost someone very important to him. But Becky, please understand that this is our second chance."

Becky heaved another sigh which caused her mum's eyes to widen. "I think I finally understand. You're afraid things have changed between you and Remus."

"What, mum? No, I—"

"Don't you think everyone deserves a second chance?" Nancy interrupted turning her daughter in the direction of the French doors, that lead out to the back patio, where a sandy haired man stood looking out at the stars. "Go."

Becky couldn't say anything as she stared across the room at Remus. She felt her mother's hands slid down her arms and disappear. When Becky turned around to look at her mother once more, she saw that her mum was retreating to where her fiancé was shaking hands and thanking Jane for her gracious 'congratulations.'

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for my longer than anticipated absence. I decided to take a much needed break :-)**

**The story is starting to come to a close, I'm afraid. I want to say about 5 more chapters or so depending on where my brain leads me in the next couple of weeks. If there is anything anyone would like to see in one of the last chapters or if you would like something in a previous chapter to have more detail let me know.**

**Until next week,  
Always,  
orangezauber**


	35. Chapter 35: The Explanation

**Chapter 35**

**A/N: Just a quick note: I changed the rating of the entire story from T to M based off of this chapter because I was paranoid about the violence being too graphic.**

* * *

***Current Time: Shortly after Becky's Mum's engagement***

It felt strange to Remus to have someone new in Nancy's life. She was like a second mother to him growing up and it was difficult to imagine her being with someone else. Of course, his mother and Nancy dated over the years, but never had anyone every gotten close to either of the women to propose. He felt like he was losing his own mother.

Remus was so wrapped up in his own thoughts about the matter that he didn't hear anyone approach him from behind.

"Let's go," Becky's harsh voice was accompanied by a not so gentle tug on Remus' arm in the direction of the back door.

She led the two of them outside where a gust of frigid wind nearly pushed them back into the house. The weather had changed drastically from only a couple of hours previous when Remus had brought Becky to his house.

Becky let go of Remus as soon as the door was closed. She stood facing the back yard with her arms firmly crossed against her chest. The snowflakes seemed to melt before they even touched her skin.

"Becky," Remus cautiously approached. He could tell that there was unintentional magic radiating off of her person.

"Tell me about when you turned into a werewolf," Becky heaved with angry tears threatening to spill over.

Remus was shocked by his friend's sudden request. Whatever he had been expecting Becky to say, it was not this. "What? Becky I don't think this is a story for Christmas Day."

Remus was pinned against the side of the house with such vehemence; he never had a chance brace himself for the impact.

"I don't care. I want to know," Becky seethed, tears were now streaming down her cheeks as her hands were fisted into Remus' clothing holding him against the wall.

"Becky, I don't want to upset you."

"Well, I don't think anything can anger me more than I am now. I need the distraction."

"Please. I want...I need to..." Becky whimpered angrily as she slid down to the ground bringing Remus with her.

"Alright. Before I start, I just ask you to bear in mind that this might not be the story you were hoping to hear."

Becky didn't say a word. She merely nodded unintentionally allowing her eyes to soften as she gazed at Remus.

Remus took the opportunity to softly encase Becky's hand with his own. He led her out of her out of his back property taking caution as to not be seen by the three adults through the windows of the house.

Once they had arrived at Becky's house, Remus pulled out his wand and unlocked the door with a quick wave. He guided the two of them to Becky's room and closed the door after they had entered.

"Why did you bring me here," Becky wondered out loud. She could still feel the negative emotions bubbling throughout her body, but she tried her best to keep her calm in order to hear the story she so desperately wanted to distract her.

"It's something that is difficult for me to explain as it is," Remus sighed. "I don't want the feeling that someone is listening in."

Becky merely nodded as she sat down on her bed and looked up at Remus expectantly, waiting for him to sit. After a few moments, Becky realized her friend was not going to sit.

Remus began to pace the floor in front of Becky's bed. "It all began one summer's evening when I was about four..."

_"Mummy," Remus called while looking out the front window of his childhood home. "When is daddy coming home?"_

_ "Soon, little one," Jane answered placing a kiss in her son's hair. "He said something came up and he has to stay a little longer at work."_

_ Remus let out a whimper. "He said that he would be home early."_

_ "He shouldn't be much longer," Jane smiled. She hated to see her son disappointed when his father was late for one of their outings, let alone their first all night adventure._

_ After another half an hour of waiting Jane left her waiting child and went into the kitchen to continue preparing the food her boys would need during the night and the next morning. She was humming to herself and barely registered that Remus was telling her that we was going outside to set up._

_ Right before she heard the door close, Jane yelled for the small boy to stay in the yard and keep the gate closed. She smiled at the impatience of the four year old and continued her preparations in the kitchen._

_ Tired of waiting for his father, Remus decided to take matters into his own hands. He decided that he would begin setting up for their miniature camping trip by himself; the camping trip in the back yard that he and his father had been talking about since the beginning of the summer._

_ Remus heard his mother's warning shouts from the kitchen, but in his impatience and excitement he chose to ignore what she said. He rushed out of the gate in order to gather large enough branches from the forest behind the house in order to create supports for the tent he was about to build._

_ Wandering through the forest, making sure the fence to his house was always in view, Remus came across the perfect pair of branches lying on the ground. He grabbed one of the branches and attempted to pull towards home. However, his four year old body could not handle the strength required to move either of the branches. So, young Remus, ran to the shed where his mother kept all of her gardening supplies._

_ He pulled out the large piece of canvas he had seen his mum use during early spring to cover the roses during the frosty mornings. _

_ Remus quickly located his two prized limbs and rolled them onto the canvas. In the process of rolling the second of the tree limbs onto the canvas, Remus slipped causing him to stumble to the ground._

_ Immediately, he felt the sting in his knee from the impact and let out a small whimper of pain. Looking down at his knee, he saw the blood dripping into the ground. _

_ Suddenly a growl had erupted from somewhere behind him._

_ "H-hello," Remus hesitantly called as he stood._

_ There was no answer to his greeting._

_ Remus had not realized how late it had gotten while he was out in the woods collecting the branches he desired to create his tent and surprise his father. The growl had put the late hour into perspective._

_ Another growl sounded followed by a piercing howl. The sounds were closer than the first time Remus had heard the growl._

_ He could feel his heart pounding as he struggled to his feet and began to slowly back up away from the direction of the sound. However, noises of snapping twigs circled around Remus as if whatever was out there was taunting him._

_ Two large yellow eyes appeared from behind a tree immediately to the left of the young boy. Remus gave out a shout and ran as fast as he small legs could carry him back to the safety of his home. Remus had just made it to the gate when he heard his father calling to him from the house. _

_ John Lupin was standing on the porch with a bag of treats prepared by his loving wife. He stood there calling out to Remus with a large smile on his face, hoping that his boy would return the smile with a youthful grin. However, John caught sight of Remus' face and it was not one of joy at seeing his father, but one of utter terror. John began to walk towards his son with curiosity as he looked on while Remus tried to pull the gate close with all of his four year old might._

_ Within seconds of Remus getting the gate closed, it burst open, sending the small boy flying through the air. A ravenous looking wolf sprang from the outskirts of the fence making a line straight for Remus. Patches of grey fir coated the skin of the snarling wolf and the yellow eyes appeared to be crazed as it zone in on the small bloodied boy sprawled out on the ground._

_ "Remus," John yelled as his paced picked up trying to make it to his son before the beast._

_ Jane came running out of the house once she had heard the distressed shouting. "John! Remus!"_

_ "No," John screamed upon hearing his wife's arrival. "Stay back!"_

_ John tore the wand out of his robes and began to throw curse after curse at the werewolf. "No! Remus!"_

_ The werewolf, who was hunched over Remus' small body, was momentarily distracted by magic slicing across its body. It lunged forward, capturing the full grown wizard off guard._

_ Both John and the werewolf went tumbling to the ground._

_ "Jane, get in the house and floo the head of the magical creatures unit at St. Mungo's and tell him there has been a creature attack," John yelled as he temporarily kicked the werewolf off of him._

_ Jane immediately did as she was told and ran into the house to make contact with man her husband had requested._

_ John continued to keep the werewolf away from Remus to the best of his abilities. _

_ "Get away from my son," John yelled when the werewolf got away and lunged at Remus once again. John caught the werewolf by the back leg and attempted to swing the snarling monster in the opposite direction._

_ The werewolf's front claws swiped back, catching John's stomach. The sharp blades of the claws cut through the soft flesh, shredding everything in their path._

_ Suddenly, the noise level seemed to diminish and only shadows were visible as John Lupin collapsed to the ground. He held onto his stomach trying to keep everything contained. However, his blood was rushing out of his body so fast as it darkened the ground and soaked into the grass, that John knew his attempts of survival were futile._

_ A flash of light squarely hit the werewolf's chest, immobilizing it temporarily._

_ John was able to follow the origin of the light with his eyes, the only movement he seemed to have the strength to accomplish. The string of light led his eyes to the shape of a man, with his arm out stretched. Even without complete vision, John knew the man was Healer Laurent Fourneir. A man he, John, had worked very closely with at St. Mungo's over the past few months._

_ He could tell that Laurent was kneeling right above him, but John could not feel his colleague's touch._

_ "Tell...Jae...an...Re...I...I...lo...ve..." And with that John couldn't speak anymore. His body had spilt too much of its life force to continue._

_ A scream shot through the air as Jane had crumbled next to her husband. He begged the lifeless body to return, but nothing happened. No amount of begging or pleading or praying would bring the man she loved so dearly back._

_ "You must leave him. You still have your son," Laurent hurriedly explained. He hated that he had to talk in such a way to a grieving wife. "We don't have much time. The spell won't hold the monster for long."_

_ Numbly, Jane pulled herself away from what used to be her husband._

_ "I've got him," Laurent said taking Remus in his arms. "The faster we can make it back to the house the better."_

_ "No matter what happens, I want you to get to that house and lock yourself inside with magic," Laurent said as they ran. "I assume you're a witch."_

_ "Yes," Jane sobbed, trying to keep up with the Healer._

_ Halfway to the house, Remus began to stir in Laurent's tight grasp. Remus let out a shriek of pain as his body jostled in the strange man's arms._

_ There was a tremendous roar that ripped through the night. The werewolf had broken free of his magic bindings._

_ Jane and Laurent sprinted even faster for the open door as their adrenaline pushed them faster._

_Almost to the door, Laurent felt the strong claws that had destroyed his friend and colleague, rip across his back. Laurent's legs immediately gave away in paralysis as the dagger like claws had severed his spine._

_Even with the loss of his legs, Laurent still had pretty good control over his upper extremities. As best as he could, he threw Remus into the house after his mother._

"_Take care of that boy," Laurent called out to Jane before the beast savagely struck him again._

_All Jane could do was nod. She gathered her crying son into her arms, shut the door, and locked it with the strongest magic she could handle at the moment. She took Remus upstairs and laid him down on her bed to tend to his wounds._

_The two of them stayed in that room until morning when she contacted the Ministry of Magic to report what had happened._

When Remus had finished, all Becky could do was stare at her friend. Suddenly, the fact that this was kept a secret from her no longer mattered. Even after all of these years she could see the pain Remus was experiencing. The pain that was now evident on his face as he looked everywhere, but at her.

"That's it. A few weeks later we moved into the house next to yours," Remus stated with such clarity it even surprised him considering he had tears running down both cheeks. "It was my fault your father died. I am the one that took him away from you. I was just so scared..."

Becky did the only thing she could think of doing. She pulled Remus to her and embraced her best friend with all of the sorrow and empathy she could manage.

Together they sobbed into each other's shoulders for the remainder of the day. Neither one caring that the Christmas festivities next door were still going on. All they cared about was being together and finally having everything out in the open.

**OoOoOoO**

The next morning, Becky woke up feeling a little groggy. She felt something warm steadily blowing across the back of her neck and tried to turn around. However, something seemed to be holding her in place. Looking down she recognized two arms, wrapped around her frame, which she had come to know very well.

She grazed her finger's back and forth along Remus' exposed arm and sighed. The day before had not been what she had expected. It was the most intense Christmas she had ever experienced, but she didn't regret it. Becky needed to hear what happened the night Remus was bitten.

A groan from behind broke Becky out of her thoughts. The arms tightened and then quickly released as if realizing what was happening was bad.

The release allowed Becky to turn completely around and face Remus.

"You should have told me sooner," Becky whispered with a scratchy voice from a night filled with tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," Remus began to ramble, but Becky placed her palm on Remus jaw as her fingers gently tapped on his temple.

"Don't," Becky whispered again without removing her hand. "It wasn't your fault. You were so young. How were you to know?"

"But I killed your father," Remus repeated.

Becky caught the tear leaking from Remus' eye with her thumb. "You didn't. Something else did."

"Something I am," Remus seethed trying to pull away from Becky.

"No," Becky said. "That wasn't you. You aren't it."

"You don't know what I am capable of during the time of the full moon," Remus rebutted. "I have no control over the monster once the full moon rises. I become consumed. I become a beastly creature out for blood. I am the creature that you are most afraid of when darkness falls."

"Remus," Becky soothed. "I may be frightened of whatever it is that takes over your body for a few hours a month, but I am not afraid of you. Remus, I love you."

Remus stopped trying to fight against Becky's grip on his arm preventing him from leaving.

"What?"

"I've spent too much time being angry at you for not telling me. What I should have been focusing on is the very real possibility that I could lose you. Life is too fragile; it can be taken away too easily if we blink. I already lost my father. Please don't let me lose you too. I do love you, Remus. "

Remus lunged forward, capturing Becky's lips with his own.

Becky squealed at the sudden movement, but responded quickly. It had been too long since she felt Remus' touch and she relinquished in the feeling.

After a few minutes, Remus lifted his head slightly.

Becky could tell there was something mischievous going on in his head based upon the glint now in his eyes.

"Now that we have that settled. What are we going to do about Jason?"

* * *

**A/N: So this was probably the most difficult chapter for me to write to date. I hate writing death scenes, but it seemed necessary for some of the pieces of the story to come together. I hope that wasn't too graphic for anyone. I tried to keep it realistic without going into too much graphic detail.**

**Let me know if you think the M rating was warranted due to the violence. Like I said, I changed the rating because I was being paranoid.**

**Only 5 chapters left! Thanks for sticking with me!**

**Always,  
orangezauber**


	36. Chapter 36: A Manly Shade of Lilac

**Chapter 36**

* * *

Becky stood in front of the door leading to the lavish Potter home. She could hear the faint tinkering of music from behind the closed doors and she couldn't help but wonder what kind of production was going on inside.

"Amazing, don't you think so Becky," Nancy asked her daughter as she too stared up at the elegant house before them.

Becky just rolled her eyes. She hadn't spoken much to her mother since her mother's engagement to Jason a week earlier. Becky had spent most of her time hiding in either her room alone or over at Remus' house under the watchful eye of Jane, who was worried about the strange prank plans the teens were creating.

"Ring the buzzer again, Becca. I don't think anyone heard it the first time," Jason said. He had taken to calling Becky 'Becca' after the engagement as some type of misguided delusion as if he were already family.

"I'm sure their heard it," Becky replied in a monotone voice.

"Just humour me and press it again," Jason insisted.

Becky cocked her head slightly to the side in order to get a better view of her mother's fiancé. She gave her mother a look as if to implore her mother to come to her aid, but Nancy merely gave a shrug and a smile towards Jason.

Before Becky could even place her finger upon the buzzer in order to call again, a very clean cut looking James answered the door.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here," James smirked as his eyes ran up and down Becky's form making her turn her glare onto him.

"You better watch out, James. Her boyfriend might not appreciate you oogling his girl. I've heard his bite is much worse than his bite," Sirius said pushing James aside to look at Becky too.

"You would do well to listen to your own advice, Black," Becky smiled pushing her way past the boys and into the house, leaving her mother and Jason still on the steps outside.

"I am wounded, Becky," Sirius quipped. He was holding onto his chest for dramatic effect.

"You'll get over it."

Following an amused James and a dejected Sirius, Becky took in the inside of the Potter Mansion, at least that is what Becky thought of it due to its size. James' house was at least twice the size of her and probably Remus' combined.

"We're all in the back," James explained leading the train of guests, and Sirius, to where the rest of the party was taking place.

"So where is the rest of the crew tonight," Becky inquired raising her voice a bit as they approached the part of the house where the music grew louder as did the chatter of guests.

"Pete said he couldn't make it due to it being his turn to keep his father sober," James laughed as he pushed passed more people standing out in the hall. "The poor guy has the most unfortunate family situation. Besides, Sirius'."

"Peter's family is more dysfunctional. Mine's more deranged," Sirius said with a shrug. A dark look quickly passed over his face, but it disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

"And here we are the Potter library," James announced, gesturing to what would be considered a library any other day. However, on that night it had been turned into what one would consider to be a grand ballroom. "Remus should be in here somewhere."

"Before you go off to find Remus, I just wanted to say that you look very immaculate tonight, Becky," Sirius whispered in Becky's ear right before entering the room where the party was taking place. He gave her a flirting smile and a wink.

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Sirius." Remus stood in front of his friends. His eyes were directly on Becky and a smile was over taking his face. "Now if you would stop complimenting my girlfriend, I think the lady and I have some business to attend to."

As Remus began to pull Becky into the crowd, he could hear Becky give a small whimper.

"What's the matter?"

"You just told someone to stop giving me compliments."

"It was Sirius."

"It was a compliment."

"Would you like me to give you a compliment?"

"That would be nice," Becky replied.

"Fine. Becky you are looking very—" Remus cut off his own sentence as he twirled Becky closer to him causing the shirt of her dress to flare ever so slightly. When she was facing him, Remus pressed his lips against Becky's in a kiss that he hoped conveyed a shower of compliments and love he felt for the girl in his arms.

"I wish my business involved snogging girls," James said as he approached the couple. "But the girl I would want to be in that business with still wants nothing to do with me."

"Maybe it's because you deprive others of the enjoyment of snogging girls," Remus growled pulling away from Becky, who had flushed when she remembered she was at James' house amongst a sea of people.

"I can't believe the two of you are talking about snogging girls being a business," Becky murmured pulling herself away from Remus and crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's a guy thing," Remus replied with a wink and James nodded along as if this was one of the most serious discussions.

"Well, if you weren't talking about a good snog as our business then what were you thinking about," Sirius came up behind James to enter into the conversation. He wiggled his eyes suggestively.

"You would think that being best friends with a male would get me used to...well, males," Becky grimaced looking over the three boys surrounding her. They may look gown-up and mature in their dress robes, but the words that came out of their mouths contradicted that thought of maturity. "But I guess there is no getting used to them."

"You're telling me," Lily said approaching the small group of friends.

James immediately straightened up as he heard Lily's voice. He took in the elegant black tea length dress with a black overlay on the covering her shoulders.

"Ah...you...er...you...bea...thank...beautiful...e r"

Becky studied James for a few seconds before turning her attention to Lily. "I believe what he is trying to stay is, 'you look beautiful. Thank you for coming.' Does that sound about right, James?"

James just nodded numbly. He hadn't expected Lily to show up.

"Excellent! Now that the boys have complimented the girls, in one form or another," Becky began. "I believe it is time to have a bit of a prank."

Lily vigorously shook her head. "Oh no, not you too! Becky, I thought you had more sense than to become involved in pranks."

"Well, I am dating one of the so called marauders," Becky replied sending and affectionate look at Remus, who beamed and gave Becky a peck on the cheek.

"You made up," Lily exclaimed engulfing her younger friend into an embrace. She sobered up after a couple of seconds of her immense happiness. "But that does not give you the right to go around pranking."

"We're pranking my mother's fiancé," Becky explained waving her hand in the direction of the majority of people were milling around.

"What, why," Lily nearly screeched. "I thought you liked the guy your mum was dating."

"That was before he proposed to my mum," Becky snapped.

Remus sensing the hostility behind Becky's words, wrapped his arms around Becky's waist from behind. He held her close hoping that his close proximity would calm her down.

"He proposed," Lily asked. "How did I miss that?"

"Becky's not one for talking about such things," Remus explained for his best friend who was trying to wiggle out of his embrace.

"What kind of prank did you have in mind," Sirius asked becoming more interested at the prospect of some mischief. "Have you tried the classics...syrup in the soap bottle? The purple dye in the shower head? The magic-ing him out the window while he's sleeping and letting him sleep on the in his skivvies?"

"Yes," Remus and Becky replied together. They shared a smile as they remembered the last prank Sirius had mentioned.

_Jason was spending the night at the Fourneir residence like he did the majority of most days in a week. It was a couple of nights after he proposed to Nancy and the two of them were sound asleep in bed together._

_ Becky was laying on her bed with her head hanging slightly off the edge. Her head was being propped up by Remus shoulder as he sat on the floor reading._

_ "Nothing's working," Becky whined. "I was hoping he would at least stop spending the night with all of the things we have done to him in the past 48 hours."_

_ "Some men are more resilient that others," Remus explained without looking up from his book. "Just think of Peter and his love of sweets. First year, James and Sirius pranked him. They put maple syrup in his shampoo bottle hoping to drive the poor guy mad. Instead of being disgusted by what was in his hair, he embraced it. I remember Peter saying that his hair never tasted or smelled so great." _

_ Becky crinkled her nose at Remus' explanation that didn't really seem to help the situation. "All I got out of that is that your friends are more disgusting than I originally thought."_

_ Suddenly, a loud snore erupted from the room across the hall._

_ "That's it," Becky exclaimed as she rolled off of her bed unceremoniously. "That man has got to go."_

_ Remus glanced up from his book. He looked up at Becky and gave her a smirk. Standing up from his spot on the floor, Remus set his book on Becky's bed and grabbed his friend's hand. "I have the perfect means of getting him temporarily out of the house."_

_ The two teens snuck quietly across the hallway to Nancy's bedroom where the offending noise's epicentre laid its head. Once inside the room, Remus pulled out his wand out of one of his pockets. He unwrapped his right hand from Becky's and intertwined their opposite hands together so he could use his wand hand to perform a spell._

_ Remus muttered a charm under his breath with a smooth swish and flick of his wand. Slowly, Jason began to rise out of the bed still dead asleep to the world. Rising up into the air, most of the blankets slid off of his body like a goose-down filled waterfall. Only one blanket remained with Jason and that was the one that he had wrapped around his arms as if it were his lifeline while he slept._

_ Becky could see the purple tint to his skin from the shower dying prank they had pulled on him the morning before. She had to cover her mouth with her free hand in order to suppress a giggle at the sight of her mother's lavender faced fiancé floating through the air._

_ With another flick of his wand, Remus opened the window and guided Jason out onto the snow covered roof. As to not be completely heartless, Remus cast a warming charm on the lilac skinned man before tugging a gasping Becky out the door._

_ As soon as they were in the safety of Becky's room the both burst into laughter. The lecture in the morning would be worth it._

"Alright. You have done the warm-up. Now...," Sirius said waving his arms dramatically through the air. "You need to go bigger, flashier!"

"I am more of a 'subtle' type," Becky said picking a piece of lint off of her dress.

"Can't you just be happy for them and leave them alone," Lily tried to reason. "I mean, look at them. They look so in love."

Becky sent Lily a questioning look. "You obviously don't have to live with them. If that man calls me 'Becca' or 'Reba' one more time, I swear...Look, it's not that I dislike him. I just hate the fact that this all happened so quickly. I barely know the guy and he obviously barely knows me if he thinks that I have ever let anyone call me 'Reba.' And I think I have the perfect prank for tonight.

"Remus my handsome assistant will perform a type of protection spell because I am not of age. It will be a similar spell to the one placed on Hogwarts when a muggle gets too close."

"I think I see where you're going with this," Remus smiled. Then he rolled his eyes when he looked at the scandalized look on Lily's face. "Oh don't give me that, Lily. I'm friends with Sirius and James for a reason. Not to mention I don't think you have seen Becky and I at our full capacity."

"I don't think anyone wants to see that, mate," James muttered under his breath, but his comment was masked by Lily.

"But Remus! You're a prefect at school. I thought you had grown out of things like this," Lily said. Then she turned to Becky. "And you! I thought you were a good influence on him."

"Lily, I'm actually the worst influence on him," Becky explained patting Remus' cheeks. "Anyway, Rem, do you think you can keep Jason away from my mum for the night."

Remus nodded as he discreetly pulled out his wand from his dress robes. He took aim and sent the spell towards Jason.

At first nothing appeared to be happening, then all of a sudden, Jason straightens up and moves over to the drink table away from Nancy.

The marauders and Becky laughed at the ridiculous things Jason would do to avoid Nancy. It was even more hilarious watching him try to get closer to her, but not being able to get near. Even Lily couldn't help a giggle a couple of times from the sight.

The night wore on and midnight was approaching. Everyone was pairing up, with the exception of Nancy and Jason. The countdown to midnight began and Remus pulled Becky closer.

When the clock struck 12 signifying the New Year, Remus' captured Becky's lips with his own.

After a couple of minutes the couple was interrupted when someone called Becky's name.

"Becky!"

Becky groaned when she realized it was her mother who had interrupted her small intimate moment with Remus.

"Have you seen Jason? I feel like he has been avoiding me all night."

With that Becky and Remus burst out laughing. Neither caring about the strange look they were receiving from Becky's mum.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter, but I thought it would be fun to add a little fluff and pranks after all of the drama. This is more of a filler before I begin winding down the story.**

**For those of you who are interested, I posted a companion oneshot to chapter 35 where Remus tells the story of him being bitten instead of it being a flashback. So there is a lot of overlap from chapter 35. The story is on my profile page under the title "SBaBE: The Initial Bite."**

**Thanks everyone for your continued support!  
Until next time,  
Always,  
orangezauber**


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